Rockspring Property Investment Managers has acquired a logistics portfolio totalling 158,000 m2 on behalf of its Rockspring TransEuropean Property Limited Partnership VI (TEP VI) for an undisclosed sum.
Acquired in an off-market transaction, the portfolio consists of five assets located in the outskirts of Paris, Lyon, and Orleans and will be managed by the firm's Paris-based asset management team.
The deal follows the €101 mln portfolio of four French high-grade logistics properties acquired in April 2016 and sees TEP VI’s French logistics holdings increase to 390,000 m2 across 10 assets.
TEP VI, which held a final close in July 2016 with €430 mln of equity and has leverage of up to 55%, is now fully committed across 12 projects in six European countries. The fund has an annual 15% target return.
Commenting on the latest deal, Paul Hampton, Rockspring partner and fund director of the TEP series, said TEP VI had now concluded one of its core objectives - 'to build an attractive income-focused portfolio of investments within supply-constrained sub-markets'.
'Taken in combination with our earlier purchases, we now have a high-quality portfolio through which we expect to enjoy a strong leveraged cashflow whilst also pursuing a range of value enhancement initiatives - including building renovations, re-tenanting and selective redevelopment,' he added.
Growing logistics portfolio
Since December 2012, Rockspring has originated and closed on just under €400 mln of similar deals - the majority of which have been in non-compete situations, Rockspring's European director Kevin Muscat added.
Rockspring was advised on this latest deal by Lefèvre Société d’Avocats, Les Notaires du Quai Voltaire, Eversheds, Turnbull/Burgeap, Arsene Tax, Expansion and JLL. The portfolio has been financed by German bank Aareal.
Rockspring manages a growing portfolio of logistics properties across Europe which now totals some €0.8 bn and is located across the principal logistics markets in France (39.1%), UK (33.7%), Germany (10.5%), Spain (9.1%), Sweden (4.9%) and the Netherlands (2.8%). The portfolio includes a land bank, with a consented development potential of 240,000 m2 GLA.
TEP VI's diversified pan-European portfolio consists of office, retail, residential and industrial properties in large metropolitan areas of core Western Europe (including the UK). The fund has focused on assembling a cash-flow generative portfolio that can be aggressively ‘managed to core’, utilising the firm’s Europe-wide platform and, more specifically, its hands-on asset management or operator-style approach.
