By Mario Marroquin
The joint venture by Cadillac Fairview, the real
estate arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and U.K.-based asset
manager Boreal IM extended its real estate buying spree with the
acquisition of 15 light industrial warehouses from Europa Capital in the
Netherlands this week.
One month after Markets Group reported the joint venture
began to assemble a $3.05 billion European logistics portfolio, the joint
venture has acquired a portfolio of warehouses concentrated in the Randstad
region of the Netherlands.
Cadillac Fairview said the majority of the properties were
built in the last 15 years and that the assets are located in an area with a
GDP that is 60% higher than the Euro Area average.
“We were particularly attracted by the low in-place rents,
which combined with the leases’ indexation provisions, will offer an attractive
combination of defensive cash flows with material medium term upside,” James
Farmer, a partner at Boreal IM, said. “It dovetails well with our existing
holding in the Netherlands, a 100,000 sqm estate in the Port of Rotterdam.”
Cadillac Fairview said the United Kingdom, Germany, France,
Spain and Italy are also target locations for investments in standing or ground
up industrial real estate development.
A total of 2.6 million square feet of industrial space has
been acquired since the venture launched in June. Back then, the partners
announced the acquisition of standing assets in the U.K. and the Netherlands.
Cadillac and Boreal IM acquired 1.1 million square feet of industrial space in
West London and near the Port of Rotterdam.
In recent months, the $188 billion AUM Ontario Teacher’s
Pension Plan has been actively investing in European healthcare technology,
financial services and infrastructure. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is
also a majority owner of Brussels Airport, London City Airport, Copenhagen
Airport and Bristol Airport, to name a few.