Macquarie Global Property Advisors (MGPA) has signed an agreement on behalf of its MGP Fund II to purchase a portfolio of eight light industrial assets in Germany. The financial details were not disclosed, but the company said the initial yield was above 9%.
Macquarie Global Property Advisors (MGPA) has signed an agreement on behalf of its MGP Fund II to purchase a portfolio of eight light industrial assets in Germany. The financial details were not disclosed, but the company said the initial yield was above 9%.
All but one of the properties are located in Stuttgart. The total portfolio comprises 63,000 m2 of space, of which more than 98% is leased to a number of tenants in the automotive industry. Some 75% of the lettable area is used for light industry and the rest is office space.
'The Stuttgart-Heidelberg economic corridor is among the strongest economic zones in the country. It is also one of the most important industrial regions in the automotive industry in Europe, being home to DaimlerChrysler, Porsche and Bosch,' said Maruis Schoner, head of German acquisitions for MGPA.
The fund's managing director Alex Jeffrey added: 'We are very positive about the German real estate market at the moment with the economy continuing to gain momentum. In particular we see significant opportunity in the light industrial sector, which is emerging as an institutional asset class offering the potential for further yield compression.'
He also noted that while the light industry property sector has traditionally been dominated by owner-occupiers this was changing, with companies choosing the flexibility of leasing rather than buying space.
MGP Fund II has already acquired two German properties this year. One is in the office sector and the other is a warehouse. Together they have a combined area of 52,700 m2.
