Union Investment has acquired the Rocket portfolio from Garbe Industrial Real Estate on behalf of two new logistics special funds launched jointly by Union Investment and Garbe.
Union, which earlier this year also bought the Logistrial portfolio from Garbe for €800 mln, said that the new package consists of six development projects (scheduled for completion in 2021) and two existing buildings. The portfolio is distributed throughout Germany and split across six federal states. Offering a total of 218,144 m2 of space, the properties are fully let to a leading US online retailer on leases ranging from 8.5 to 20 years. They are located in Achim, Rendsburg, Cloppenburg, Emden, Meßkirch, Kaiserslautern, Echzell and Frankenberg.
Union Investment and Garbe will share investment management responsibility for the two pan-European funds, while Garbe will handle asset management and property management. The purchase price was not disclosed.
‘The two funds provide a compelling answer to our institutional clients’ investment needs. We are delighted to have successfully completed this portfolio deal, which offers our investors the prospect of sustained long-term returns,’ said Bernhard Kraus, a member of the management team at Frankfurt-based Union Investment Institutional.
Christopher Garbe, managing director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate, commented: ‘We’re delighted to be able to expand our pan-European collaboration with Union Investment through the sale of this portfolio.’
The transfer of rights and obligations (closing) has now taken place for six of the eight properties. For the two properties in Cloppenburg and Frankenberg, closing is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020.
‘The acquisition of the Rocket portfolio marks another major step towards increasing the proportion of logistics properties in our holdings,’ said Stephan Riechers, head of investment management logistics & light industrial at Union Investment.
The Union Investment logistics portfolio currently comprises 61 properties with a total value of around €2.7 bn. The company plans to double this to over €5 bn in the medium term. ‘We have 12 European national markets in our sights for future acquisitions. In addition to Germany, they include the Netherlands, France and Poland,’ said Riechers.
