Global Logistic Properties has been selected as the preferred party to buy Brookfield’s €2bn+ (£1.8bn) European logistics platform IDI Gazeley, EG can reveal.
Asia’s largest warehouse owner has fought off competition from Schroders, which had been working with Japan’s Mitsubihi, and Blackstone, which made a late entry into the process.
Final bids for the platform were made at the end of last week and GLP’s position was solidified yesterday.
In Europe, the Gazeley business totals 17.2m sq ft and includes around 1,000 acres of developable land across the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. It is led by Pat McGillycuddy and is currently based in Brookfield’s 99 Bishopsgate, EC2.
The purchase by GLP will see it create a truly global platform after years of plotting. Gazeley will be combined with its existing 600.6m sq ft portfolio which sits across 118 cities in China, Japan, the US and Brazil.
Its entry into Europe mimics the acquisition approach it took in the US where in 2015 it bought Blackstone’s Indcor business for $8.1bn (£6bn).
The Singapore-listed company is currently in the process of undertaking a dramatic revolution. Following a review prompted by its largest shareholder, GIC, GLP agreed an $11.6bn take-private deal in July with a Chinese consortium led by chief executive Ming Mei including Hopu Investment Management, Hillhouse Capital Group and Vanke. That deal is due to complete by April next year.
GLP had also been in the running to buy Blackstone’s €12.25bn Logicor platform, a sale of which is due to complete next month to China Investment Corporation.
For Brookfield the sale represents a successful exit of the European business after four years of ownership. It bought Gazeley in 2013 for $370m from Dubai World’s EZW and has since expanded the business aggressively. Brookfield continues to own Gazeley assets in both the US and China.
GLP’s purchase of Gazeley will see the second major international owner of logistics enter the European market in quick succession with US giant Panattoni having bought the UK’s First Industrial earlier this month.
CBRE and Morgan Stanley are acting for Brookfield; JLL is acting for GLP.
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