Prologis, Inc., the global leader in logistics real estate, and CBRE Global Investment Partners, a division of CBRE Global Investors, one of the world’s largest real estate investment management firms, today announced the formation of a new development venture in the United Kingdom.The venture, called Prologis UK Logistics Venture (UKLV), will pursue a develop-to-own strategy focusing on prime UK markets in the East and West Midlands, London and the South East. UKLV will acquire land, develop buildings and operate and hold logistics real estate. The venture will be seeded with a 7.6 million square foot portfolio of stabilized properties, developments in progress and land, with an initial closing of approximately 3.9m square feet. UKLV will be structured as a 15/85 joint venture with 15 percent owned by Prologis and 85 percent owned by clients of CBRE Global Investment Partners, with total expected value of approximately £1 billion GBP ($1.26B USD).
“Our customers continue to grow in the UK and this venture helps meet new demand,” said Gary Anderson, CEO, Prologis Europe and Asia. “Current opportunities exceed the capacity of our existing funds and partnering with CBRE Global Investment Partners is an efficient way to match available capital with the breadth of prospects in the UK.”
Jeremy Plummer, Head of EMEA for CBRE Global Investors, said, “Prologis has a highly experienced team on the ground in the UK with a track record of successfully delivering development projects and managing stabilized assets. They are the ideal partner for this venture and will help meet our clients’ demand for high quality logistics investments in the UK.”
Prologis currently owns and operates 23 million square feet in 97 buildings in the UK market. The formation of this venture demonstrates investor confidence in the continuing strength of the UK logistics property market. Strong demand in the UK for logistics real estate is driven by consumption, e-commerce and supply chain modernization. Prologis’ business strategy in Europe is to hold properties in a series of funds. UKLV is an extension of this strategy and will be the first venture dedicated to the UK market, as Prologis’ existing Pan-European funds already have significant allocations to UK properties. The transaction is expected to close at the end of February.
CBRE Global Investment Partners were advised by CBRE Capital Markets and Jones Day. Prologis’ in-house legal team was assisted by Linklaters LLP.
Source : Company
Paola G. Lunghini