Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised AEW Europe on a €820mn capital raising for LOGISTIS. This represents the largest equity raising to date for AEW Europe and brings the total equity of LOGISTIS to more than €1.3bn. The new equity has been raised from a number of leading institutional investors from Europe and Asia, including APG and PGGM among others. The capital raised exceeded the original equity target, with the five largest new investors committing in excess of €600mn in aggregate. Existing investors also increased their investment, committing a further €130mn in aggregate.
LOGISTIS’ strategy is to build a portfolio of Grade A logistics parks in prominent locations across the main logistics hubs in Continental Europe. The additional equity raised will be used to grow the LOGISTIS platform to more than €2bn and further expand its European footprint. AEW Europe has already started LOGISTIS’ expansion into Germany and will seek to complement its existing high quality portfolio of prime properties through the acquisition of approximately €1.2bn of existing assets and new logistics parks to be developed with its network of preferred development partners. These new investments will be mainly focused on Germany, Benelux and selected markets in Central Europe. Increasing the size of the platform will also allow LOGISTIS to further deepen its existing relationships with the leading logistics operators and retailers, who are increasingly looking for tailored and flexible pan-European solutions for their occupational requirements.
The LOGISTIS platform was created over 15 years ago and has a long term track record of outperforming its benchmark indices. LOGISTIS is targeting to deliver a net income return to investors of approximately 7% over the life of the fund. The current portfolio comprises 21 Grade A logistics estates located in France, Germany and Italy, as well as Spain and Belgium, with a total value of approximately €900mn.
Clifford Chance advised AEW Europe with a team comprising in Paris Alexandre Lagarrigue (partner), Pierre Briguet-Lamarre and Britta Hardeck, in Luxembourg François-Xavier Dujardin (partner) on tax aspects and Frédérique Davister on corporate aspects.
Source: www.cliffordchance.com
