Palmira gets green light for first-ever Article-9 logistics impact fund
Leading logistics asset manager Palmira Capital Partners received the official stamp of approval from German financial watchdog BaFin to launch its German Logistics Impact Fund, the first fund permit granted in full compliance with the coveted Article-9 marketing authorisation under the new EU Disclosure Regulations.
Palmira's new fund, the German Logistics Impact Fund ("GLIF"), is targeting a volume of €500m including €300m of its own equity, and looking to distribute a 4% yield over the 10-year lifetime of the fund.
The fund will invest exclusively in existing German logistics property, not new-built assets, in the Core+ and Core Risk classes. The aim is to implement works which will reduce the energy demand by at least 30%, and decarbonise the assets within three years. This will comply with the strict requirements of the Disclosure Regulation and EU taxonomy for sustainable, earning it the Article-9 designation.
The first closing is scheduled for this year's second quarter, while investors may participate with a minimum subscription of €10m. The average asset investment per unit bought for the fund is expected to be between €20m-€40m.
Silvio Müller, fund manager of the GLIF, said the company was proud to be be first German company to achieve the highly-prized fund accreditation. "As one of the pioneers in the industry, at an early stage we recognised the importance of structuring logistics properties on a sustainable - and hence future-proof - basis. Our team has worked for over a year on the fund concept, which we also call ‘Manage-to-ESG-Core' ".
His colleague Christean Schmidt, who joined the Frankfurt-based Palmira last summer as Head of Sustainability from Gogas Goch to head the four-man ESG team and spearhead the new EU-compliant funds programme, said: "The individual modernisation concepts include works for energy optimisation, energy generation and storage, and CO2 mitigation. For this, Palmira employs innovative solutions that are tailored to the type of building, use and location. Within three years, we'll have reduced the CO2 emissions from the buildings concerned to net zero by the optimisations implemented in their operation."
Just last month Palmira also added two new assets to its Corporate Real Estate Club 2 (UIC2) fund - the first in Fulda and the second in Hainichen, in Saxony, without disclosing the purchase prices. The fund, aimed at institutional investors, focuses on commercial and small-scale parks and production properties in Germany, and now includes five properties.
In the Fulda deal, brokered by Dr. Lübke & Kelber in Frankfurt, Palmira bought a 25,000 sqm parcel of land with 6,600 sqm of warehouse and 5,125 sqm of attached offices, both refurbished. The seller was the local MOLMIRA Vermietungsgesellschaft, and the buildings are fully let to electrical wholesaler R+S Group GmbH.
The second asset for the fund was a sale-and-leaseback transaction in Hainichen, in the heart of the Chemnitz-Dresden-Leipzig triangle. The 27,000 sqm property is fully let to Innomotive Systems Hainichen, a market leader in the manufacture of high precision hinges for car doors.