Investcorp Makes First European CRE Deals

DONCASTER, U.K.—Investcorp has made numerous investments across Europe, but never in commercial real estate on the continent until now. The Bahran-based investment manager has acquired three industrial properties, the beginning of what Investcorp plans to be a UK portfolio valued at more than £100m.

Mohammed Al Ardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp, calls the purchase of warehouse and manufacturing facilities “the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Investcorp's European real estate operations. Our US real estate arm has seen some great success investing in the industrials and logistics space and we look forward to leveraging and replicating that experience and success in Europe as we approach our medium-term target of $25 billion in assets under management and are actively working on a strategy to increase that to $100 billion.”

In partnership with UK real estate investment group Brydell Partners, Investcorp acquired two modern warehouse units in Doncaster, one of the UK's most important distribution locations. Additionally, the partnership bought a light manufacturing facility on the Sutton Fields Estate, the largest industrial estate within Hull.

The properties comprise a total of 504,000 square feet and are both leased to two different tenants long-term. Investcorp and Brydell acquired the assets for a total consideration of approximately £35 million, or about US$45.3 million.

The two acquisitions form the seed assets of Investcorp's UK industrial and logistics program, which will target income-generating industrial assets across the UK. It aims to build a diversified portfolio of single-tenant assets in the UK with individual lot sizes of £10 million to £20 million.

“Both the Doncaster and Hull assets fit well within our UK industrial and logistics program,” says Neil Hasson, managing director in Investcorp's real estate investment division in Europe. “The assets are well located and we believe they are positioned to benefit from the growth in e-commerce and consumer spending habits. In addition to our UK industrial program, we continue to explore multiple other European strategies, targeting income generating assets across various sectors and European geographies.”