Investcorp makes first real estate acquisitions in Europe
MANAMA, July 4, 2017
Bahrain-based Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, has acquired two modern warehouse units in Doncaster, one of the most important distribution locations in the UK.
Additionally, the company has also bought a light manufacturing facility on the Sutton Fields Estate, the largest industrial estate within Hull.
Investcorp said the acquisition of 504,000-sq-ft properties in the UK was the group's first real estate investment in Europe. Both the properties have been let to two different tenants on long leases.
The assets were acquired for a total consideration of £35 million ($45.4 million) by the Bahrain-based investment firm in partnership with UK-focused real estate investment group Brydell Partners.
The two acquisitions form the seed assets of Investcorp’s UK industrial and logistics programme, which will target income-generating industrial assets across the UK.
The programme, which is part of Investcorp’s wider European investment strategy, aims to build a diversified portfolio of single-let assets in the UK with individual lot sizes of £10 million to £20 million and a combined portfolio value in excess of £100 million.
Mohammed Al Ardhi, the executive chairman of Investcorp, said: "Today’s announcement marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Investcorp’s European real estate operations."
"Our US real estate arm has seen some great success investing in the industrials and logistics space and we look forward to leveraging and replicating that experience and success in Europe as we approach our medium-term target of $25 billion AUM (assets under management) and are actively working on a strategy to increase that to $100 billion," he remarked.
Commenting on the acquisitions, Neil Hasson, the managing director in Investcorp’s Real Estate Investment division in Europe, said: "We are pleased to announce Investcorp’s first real estate acquisitions in Europe. Both the Doncaster and Hull assets fit well within our UK industrial and logistics programme."
"The assets are well located and we believe they are positioned to benefit from the growth in e-commerce and consumer spending habits. In addition to our UK industrial programme, we continue to explore multiple other European strategies, targeting income generating assets across various sectors and European geographies," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
