Le mie ricette per la real estate communityBarings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, announces that it has acquired, off-market, three logistics properties in the north east of Italy, through an Italian real estate fund managed by Kryalos SGR, on behalf of a core investment strategy.
The assets form part of a wider six-building portfolio, totalling ca. 96,000 sq m of logistics space, which has been acquired by Barings over the last two years.
The first of the newly acquired assets is a 11,000 sq m warehouse which has been converted into a negative cold storage space and is let on a long term lease to Unifreddo Srl, a cold storage logistics specialist, to enable it to double its capacity in the region.
The property is located in Isola Rizza, in the heart of the Veneto region, 20 km from the city of Verona. The site is adjacent to the “Transpolesana” road that links Verona and Rovigo and is close to the three main highways in the region: the A4, A22 and A31.
The remaining two assets are located in San Giorgio (Mantova) and are build-to-suit forward purchases, which have been delivered by specialist developer, Techbau S.p.A. The developments, which are targeting a LEED ‘Gold’ score, comprise 46,000 sq m and 18,000 sq m of Grade A logistics space respectively, and are let to STI Spa, a well-known Italian 3PL, on a long term lease.
Both warehouses are situated in Mantova, which is located in the logistics sub-market of Verona, a sought after and growing logistics hub due to its favourable position at the intersection between the East-West and North-South European Core Network Corridors.
Marco Corti, Managing Director, Real Estate Country Head – Italy at Barings, commented: “This complex transaction, which we have completed over two years, demonstrates our ability to work flexibly with owner occupiers in order to help them realize their expansion strategies, whilst delivering high quality space that meets specific occupier requirements, especially in the growing cold storage sector. This investment also provides sustainable long income for our clients. In Italy alone, we have acquired a total of c. 250,000 sq m of logistics space and secured a pipeline of a further five transactions totalling 250,000 sq m of logistics warehouses as we continue to expand our logistics platform in Italy in the near future.”
Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Transactions – Europe at Barings, added:
“This further off market transaction proves the strength of our connections in our local markets as well as our ability to act as a strategic partner for owner occupiers looking to expand their businesses with build-to-suit and sale and lease back opportunities, this time in Italy. With a target of approximately €1 billion of logistics transactions in 2021, we remain interested in pursuing both speculative development and forward funding transactions in the Nordics, The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain. Additionally, we will consider the development of larger logistics parks through potential partnerships with developers.”
Paolo Bottelli, CEO – Kryalos SGR, added:
“The Italian logistic real estate market is growing fast and there are many opportunities for investing in locations that support new economic and sector trends, for example the growth of cold storage. Kryalos is committed to supporting Barings in identifying opportunities in the logistic market, particularly in the North of Italy.”
Source : Barings