Netherlands-headquartered investment management firm Somerset Capital Partners has spun off its logistics activities into new firm, Intospace, with a revised strategy to build and hold its industrial developments.
All of Somerset's logistics real estate activities have been taken over by Intospace, with the firm no longer building to sell to third party investors. Instead, the sheds developed by Intospace will also be held by the company.
To date, Somerset has developed large distribution centres for the likes of Zalando, Jumbo, Picnic and Kuehne+Nagel, among others.
In the run-up to the launch of the company, Somerset stopped selling its most recent projects, choosing to hold them instead. These include developments in Apeldoorn, Zaltbommel, Drunen, 's-Heerenberg and Hoofddorp, with a total surface area of more than 250,000 m2 and an investment value of more than €500 mln.
'We will guarantee the quality and remain the owner of the buildings that we develop for others,' said Tim Beckmann, CEO of Intospace. 'Of course, this decision also means that we will probably have to revise the financing approach in the future, for which we're looking at various options.'
Order book of € 1.5 bn
Intospace has launched with an order book of € 1.5 bn. Virtually all of Somerset's staff have joined Intospace, which will also have its head office in Oisterwijk in Brabant. The investors behind Intospace are the founders of Somerset Capital Partners, Joes Daemen and entrepreneur Raymond Cloosterman. Somerset will continue to trade as an investment company, with Daemen acting as an advisor to Intospace.
Beckmann added: 'The logistics world is changing drastically, as the way we live and work rapidly evolves. Consumers are adjusting their expectations from "delivery tomorrow" to "delivered today". But the challenges don't stop there: polluting energy sources must be replaced by CO2-positive energy systems, the scarce land in the Netherlands requires a more creative approach, busy cities must be relieved of traffic congestion, and much more. Intospace believes that these problems can only be solved with a clear vision.'
Intospace has also created a property management department. Said Beckmann: 'We are focusing on a long-term vision instead of a short-term horizon, because the buildings we erect have been there for at least 40 years. This requires a different business model and a different financing structure.'
The company said it wanted to better exploit scarce land in the Netherlands by means of multi-layer warehouses and distribution centres, and by making the roofs of the buildings useful through the addition of leisure areas or solar panels.
