Aquila Capital launches Southern European logistics fund
The new fund will focus on newbuilt, stable income-generating sustainable and ESG compliant logistics properties in Southern Europe.
Aquila Capital announced this Monday the launch of its Aquila Capital Southern European Logistics fund (ACSEL). The strategy of this new fund focuses on investments in a diversified portfolio of logistics real estate assets in southern European countries, including Portugal, Italy and Spain. The fund has a target investment volume of €1.5 billion with a maximum debt ratio of 50%.
The first investment has already been approved, a 115,000 m2 logistics site in Azambuja, a strategic and central logistics centre in the Lisbon metropolitan area. 70% of the asset has been pre-let to a blue-chip tenant, with a 20-year lease term. The fund has a pipeline of 9 new assets located in Portugal, Italy and Spain.
“We see an increasing interest among institutional investors for sustainable real estate assets, including logistics centres. The Aquila Capital Southern European Logistics fund provides a response to this demand, focusing on Southern European markets where we see still a lot of opportunities due to the need for modern, large-scale storage space,” Roman Rosslenbroich, CEO and co-founder of Aquila Capital, said in a statement.
The fund will focus on newbuilt, stable income-generating sustainable and ESG compliant logistics properties in Southern Europe. “Selection criteria include proximity to transportation hubs to minimize carbon emissions related to transport and sustainable building standards which include BREEAM certification, the installation of rooftop photovoltaic panels and the offsetting of CO2 emissions,” Aquila Capital explained.
ACSEL is launched with a committed equity volume of €330 million raised from international institutional investors, including SCI Primonial Capimmo. Initially, the fund aimed to raise €250 million, but due to strong demand, the first close volume was increased to €330 million.
Aquila Capital expects to deploy the capital of the first closing within 18 months, benefiting from the significant guaranteed investment pipeline.
“Our investors will benefit from our long-standing real estate expertise – a total transaction volume of €2.6 billion covering a total area of more than 1,800,000 square meters – as well as early market entry advantages due to our local teams. This real estate segment matches the strategies of investors and tenants, which all see ESG criteria, for all sustainability, as a fundamental, necessary value to contribute to the global energy transition,” stressed Roman Rosslenbroich.
