US private equity firm Blackstone has acquired a French logistics portfolio from a fund managed by European investment manager Rockspring for 鈧�233 mln.
Blackstone's funds are major investors in logistics. The firm's European platform Logicor had a portfolio of 13.6 million m2 of logistics and distribution space, with France accounting for 2.4 million m2 of the total, prior to this latest transaction.
The newly acquired portfolio was owned by Rockspring TransEuropean Property 5 (TEP V) and comprises more than 300,000 m2 of logistics accommodation across seven assets.
TEP V assembled the portfolio between December 2012 and September 2015 as part of the fund's wider European logistics strategy. All of the properties are located within France鈥檚 key north-south logistics corridor, around Paris and Lyon, the largest being the 142,313 m2 Paris-Oise Logistics Park, in Longueil Sainte Marie outside of Paris.
Since 2012, Rockspring's Paris office has carried out a number of asset management initiatives across the portfolio including re-tenanting, increasing overall occupancy levels and extending lease durations, together with some new development.
Paul Hampton, fund director of the TEP series of funds at Rockspring, commented: 'While the logistics sector in France remains an important part of our European real estate strategy, and indeed we continue to asset manage a significant portfolio from our Paris office, this transaction was timely and provided a compelling opportunity to realise value.鈥�
TEP V is the fifth fund in Rockspring鈥檚 TransEuropean series. Launched in 2012 with an ability to invest 鈧�700 mln, the fund was designed to enable investors to benefit from the re-pricing of the European property market and create a blend of core, high-cash-yielding core plus and value-add real estate. To date, the fund has invested 鈧�690 mln in UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
In July 2016, Rockspring announced the final close of the latest fund in the TransEuropean series, Rockspring TransEuropean Property Limited Partnership VI (TEP VI). With equity commitments of 鈧�430 mln and leverage of up to 55%, it has a total expected spending power of 鈧�1 bn. TEP VI is currently pursuing a similar logistics strategy in France and expects to have some 鈧�200 mln-plus under ownership by the end of Q1 2017.
