AEW has completed the acquisition of a logistics portfolio on behalf of a German insurance investor for €500m (£446m).
The portfolio of 14 logistics assets was acquired through the purchase of a fund managed by Patrizia and Garbe.
The assets, which total 3.1m sq ft, are located in Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Hamburg and are 96% let to occupiers including DB Schenker, DSV and Dachser
Gereon Kohlgrüber, head of investment, Germany at AEW, said: “This transaction allows us to access a portfolio which exclusively comprises modern, high-quality logistics assets that are spread across numerous established logistics hubs in Germany, providing good diversification.
“Through executing our active asset management strategy, our plan is to reduce vacancy whilst unlocking the reversionary potential of the portfolio to generate further upside potential over the next few years.”
Marc Langenbach, head of funds and separate accounts for Germany at AEW, added: “The portfolio is strongly aligned to the mandate’s strategy of investing in high-quality logistics assets in key distribution hubs across Germany, which remains an attractive market due to the structural drivers and undersupply of high quality space.”
Kilian Mahler, head of fund management for logistics and Caverns at Patrizia, said: “We assembled the portfolio over several years with single assets and smaller portfolio transactions.
“Covid-19 has undoubtedly accelerated the existing trends that have underpinned the positive outlook for the logistics sector for some time, particularly around the growth of e-commerce and increasing consumer demand for faster deliveries. We identified the right timing to finalise the fund strategy and realise returns well above our initial forecast.”
AEW was advised by Greenberg Traurig, Drees & Sommer, PwC and King Spalding. Patrizia was advised by Hogan Lovells and CBRE.
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