John Cutts is spearheading a European expansion for Astral Developments to rival his former company ProLogis.
Astral will create an initial fund of around £100m to focus on the big shed market on the Continent.
It will initially buy up to four large sites of between 20 and 50 acres each, for a total of 4m sq ft of development.
The Solihull-based firm – set up in June 2000 by Cutts through his Parkridge development company, alongside former ProLogis Kingspark vice-presidents Steve Ferris and Richard Saint – has been looking in eastern Europe and Poland.
In the late 1990s, Cutts initiated ProLogis’s strategy to become one of the first UK industrial specialists to develop significantly in Europe.
ProLogis now has offices in 12 countries across the Continent, and sources said Cutts favoured a similar expansion for Astral.
Cutts, Ferris and Saint are also on the lookout for a European shed specialist to head the operation and are believed to have approached Hamsvan Mojkonen from ProLogis’s office in Warsaw.
Keith Dowley, partner at Holley Blake – which advises Astral in the UK – said: “A move into Europe would provide a natural progression for the firm, having established itself as a major player in the UK big shed market.
“Cutts has the know-how and contacts to make this a success.”
Astral, which has joint ventures with Legal & General and US opportunity fund Blackstone in the UK, will move into Europe without any third-party backing.
References: EGi News 09/02/04
