Pramerica in Poland's first major logistics sale-and-leaseback

Pramerica Real Estate Investors has acquired two logistics centres in Poland on behalf of its open-ended fund TMW Immobilien Weltfonds from European logistics company Raben Group. The Polish investment team of Jones Lang LaSalle, which acted for Raben, described the dual deals as the 'first institutional quality sale-and-lease-back transactions' in Poland for the logistic sector.

JLL said the centres, totalling 70,500 m2, are strategically located in Gadki (near Poznan) and Grodzisk Mazowiecki (near Warsaw) on the main TIR routes. A 10-year lease was signed by Raben for 100% of the premises. Poland-based Raben carried out the transaction to generate additional financial means for expansion. Raben operates in Estonia, Holland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. It has over 260,000 m² of warehousing space spread across a network of terminals in Europe.

Tomasz Puch, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle, commented: 'Industrial investment market in Poland was historically the smallest in terms of volumes and this unique transaction - in terms of investment volume, tenant covenant as well as the lease profile - confirms strong investors' interest in logistics investment across Poland'. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Pramerica Real Estate Investors, which is owned by US-based Prudential Financial, is one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world. Pramerica manages over $40 bn in gross assets on behalf of more than 400 clients.