London-based investment firm Rasmala has acquired two logistics properties in Germany for €154m (£135m).
The purchase was completed through Rasmala’s asset management subsidiary, Rasmala Investment Bank.
The first facility is a new Amazon logistics centre spanning 95,000 sq ft and was acquired for €121m.
Rasmala also acquired a €33m logistics centre let to a subsidiary of sports goods retailer Decathlon.
Both are located in the new Grade A Westfalenhütte logistics park, north-east of Dortmund.
The acquisitions add to Rasmala’s logistics portfolio. In March 2017, it purchased Amazon’s biggest UK fulfilment and distribution centre, which covers 1m sq ft, in Dunfermline, Scotland, for £61m. That transaction is believed to be the biggest ever single logistics property deal in Scotland.
Zak Hydari, group chief executive at Rasmala Group, said: “Rasmala’s acquisition of more than $400m of logistics assets demonstrates our appetite for stable income-yielding assets.
“Well-sited logistics centres let to the right tenants have become a critically important part of any large real estate portfolio.
“Real estate is going to remain a key strategic pillar of our 2018 plans, leveraging our expertise in acquiring attractive assets in the most in-demand asset categories, let to blue-chip tenants.”
Naseer Aka, head of real estate at Rasmala, said: “E-commerce continues to grow its market share. As a result, distribution centres have taken over from traditional retail space as drivers of rental growth.
“As the leading e-retailer in the United States and the world’s biggest retailer by market value, Amazon is the kind of blue-chip tenant we want.”
Rasmala arranged funding of the purchase through DekaBank; Addleshaw Goddard LLP and GSK Stockmann acted as legal advisers; E&Y as financial adviser and CBRE as buy-side adviser; Gulf Islamic Investments was co-investment adviser on the Amazon transaction.
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