March 29, 2021

Barings Acquires Paris Urban Logistics Redevelopment Opportunity

Barings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, announces that it has acquired a logistics redevelopment opportunity near Paris, France, from a private investor. The acquisition was done on behalf of a pan-European logistics joint venture between a U.S. insurance company and a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund targeting core+/value-add assets.

Refurbishment work on the property is being undertaken by Vectura with whom a development contract has been signed and is scheduled to complete in May 2021. The finished c. 24,000 sq m asset will be split into six distinct units. 51% of the building has been pre-let on a ten-year firm lease to a third party logistics firm for a mix of dry, cold positive and cold negative storage. The remaining urban logistics space, comprising three units of under 3,000 sq m, is being marketed on a speculative basis to take advantage of the continued strong demand for high quality new and dry space from urban logistics occupiers.

The property is situated in Saint Ouen l’Aumône in the Cergy-Pontoise area, 35 kilometres north west of the centre of Paris, which is one of the most concentrated locations for light industrial real estate in Europe. It benefits from excellent transport connectivity to Paris as well as the rest of the continent via the nearby A15 autoroute.

Séverine Maumy-Laffineur, Managing Director and Country Head Real Estate France at Barings, commented: “This transaction gave us an opportunity to reposition a property in a strong local market that is characterised by a shortage of new or refurbished space, with robust demand for urban logistics and light industrial real estate. This is our second project with Vectura, whom we know will deliver a high quality product, which will enable our expert team to capitalise on the good momentum in the logistics leasing market and secure occupiers for the remaining available space. With our last deal signed during late 2020, the French logistics portfolio now comprises  nine assets totalling c. € 300 million.”

Robert Schneider, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, at Barings, added: “This latest deal is the second in France and third across Europe that we have completed on behalf of this strategy. With a fourth deal already signed in France, our venture, which has an initial investment target of € 500 million, has made good progress over the last year. Our focus remains on logistics markets that demonstrate attractive cyclical and structural drivers with resilience to the headwinds associated with the pandemic.  In addition to Germany and France, markets we are targeting in 2021 include Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordics.”

Barings was advised by Oudot & Associés (Notary), Etyo (technical and environmental), LPA (legal, tax and structuring, financing). BNP Paribas Real Estate was involved as a real estate buy-side adviser.

La Banque Postale provided the financing and were advised by Wargny Katz (notary) and Depardieu Brocas Mafféi (lawyer).
 

Barings Real Estate

Barings Real Estate (BRE) offers a broad range of global investment opportunities across the private debt and equity investment markets. BRE invests in all major property sectors and offers an expansive range of financing solutions to real estate borrowers. BRE also specializes in providing government and government-sponsored entity lending products through our wholly owned subsidiary, Barings Multifamily Capital. Follow us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/showcase/barings-alternative-investments.
 

About Barings

Barings is a $345 billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment. Learn more at www.barings.com.

*Assets under management as of December 31, 2020