P3 buys 33-asset logistics portfolio for €800m, doubles German size

The Prague-based P3 Logistics Parks, owned by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, is buying a 33-asset retail logistics portfolio across Germany in one of the biggest deals of the year. The seller is Aroundtown. It marks the second major acquisition in Germany for P3 over the past 12 months, doubling the size of its portfolio in the country. The price was thought to be around €800m.

Covering over 650,000 sqm of space, the ‘Matrix’ portfolio comprises 33 retail logistics assets in prime urban locations in major German cities and towns, including Berlin, Dortmund, Nuremburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Dresden and Leipzig. The assets are principally used by retailer Metro. The portfolio will be managed by P3 itself.

The deal comes within 12 months of the €950m acquisition of the ‘Maximus’ portfolio comprising 28 assets across Europe from funds managed by Apollo Global Management. That portfolio covers over 1 million sqm of industrial space and comprises 28 logistics assets located in logistics hubs across Europe, including Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria.

P3 Logistics Park Chief Investment Officer Otis Spencer said the acquisition is one of the largest real estate investment deals in Europe this year and certainly one of the largest in Germany. “It reflects our forward-looking strategy of making investments that will sustain our future growth and increase our market share in the pan-European market,” Spencer said.

P3 manages and develops European warehouse properties from its Prague headquarters, and has operations in 13 countries, with over 5.3 million sq m assets under management and land bank for further development.

Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer of Real Estate at GIC, said logistics continues to be an area of focus for GIC as it expects the sector to generate resilient long-term returns amidst the uncertain environment, supported by growing e-commerce demand.

“This is an attractive opportunity to strengthen P3’s presence in strategic urban locations, scale up the P3 platform, and reinforce its position as a leading developer and manager of logistics properties in Europe,” said Lee Kok Sun. 

GIC bought P3 Logistics Parks in 2016 from TPG Real Estate and its partner Ivanhoé Cambridge, part of Canada’s CDPQ. The Singaporean group has been aggressively buying properties in developed markets since the 2008 financial crisis. Last year, it bought PB6, a Grade A office tower in Paris, for a reported $592 million. PB6, also known as Tour EDF, was built for and is fully leased by Electricité de France (EDF), France’s main electricity company. It is the tallest skyscraper in the La Defense business district in Paris.