pbb provides €260m loan for GIANT jointransaction

In what was one of the largest and most complex transaction in the logistics sector over the past twelve months, German lender pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided Growth Industrial Asset Net-Income Trust (GIANT) with €260m investment financing in support of the trust's €450m acquisition of 34 logistics and industrial properties in Germany and the Netherlands.

GIANT is a joint venture trust structure for the real estate holdings of several occupational pension funds, and is managed by the Hamburg-headquartered GARBE Industrial Real Estate.

According to Gerhard Meitinger, head of Real Estate Finance Germany at pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, "With this transaction, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, together with its equity providers and partners, has come up with a financing that constitutes one of the largest and most complex loan structures the logistics real estate segment has seen in 2016"

Initially, pbb provided a senior loan of €260m at deal closure, before placing some €140m of that loan in December 2016. Berlin Hyp and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) have each taken a €70m participation on their books, while a group of pension funds is also engaged in the financing, with an equity share plus a mezzanine loan.

'We succeeded in bringing together three financiers and the initiator, and finding the right structure for each of them – thereby proving our particular expertise in providing financing for complex portfolio deals involving senior and mezzanine tranches,' added Meitinger.

The industrial properties acquired by GIANT were previously managed by GARBE Industrial Real Estate. Covering approximately 797,000 sqm, the portfolio mostly comprises logistics space, although there is an additional 5,000 sqm of retail and 105,000 sqm of light industrial space. GARBE will continue to service the portfolio as investment and asset manager.