Global real estate investment manager LaSalle Investment Management (LaSalle) has completed the global public offering of LaSalle Logiport REIT (LLR), raising newly issued equity capital of 48.5 billion yen (approximately USD 456 million) on the back of strong demand from Japanese institutional trusts, regional banks, international institutional investors and retail investors in Japan.
LaSalle said, this marks the first global public offering of a Japanese real estate investment trust (J-REIT) since the start of the global Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
LaSalle’s logistics-focused J-REIT, LLR, will use the net proceeds of its latest public offering to acquire ownership interests in four logistics facilities: Logiport Kawasaki Bay and Logiport Shinmoriya located in the Tokyo Area as well as Logiport Amagasaki and Logiport Sakai located in the Osaka Area. With these acquisitions, LLR’s portfolio consists of 18 assets, totaling 1.9 million square meters, with total assets under management of 317.8 billion yen (approximately USD 3 billion).
“With LLR, we are responding to strong investor appetite for quality logistics assets in Japan. Going forward, we will continue to grow and strengthen our portfolio with an active management strategy that leverages the global investment management knowledge of the LaSalle Group, as well as the deep expertise of our on-the-ground team,” said Mark Gabbay, CEO Asia Pacific of LaSalle Investment Management.
“Robust growth in e-commerce and the drive for supply chain efficiencies, together with the institutionalization of logistics facilities as a real asset in Japan, continue to boost demand for modern logistics properties. Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, we are confident that both investors and tenants will continue to recognize the value of large-scale, high-performance logistics facilities,” said Keith Fujii, CEO and President of Japan at LaSalle Investment Management.
LaSalle has a long track record in Japanese logistics, having completed more than 2.36 million square meters in new development, 1.98 million square meters in new acquisitions, and 3.77 million square meters in leasing activity over the past 17 years.
Since its debut in February 2016, LLR has doubled its assets under management and increased enterprise value by 2.6 times. LaSalle currently manages over USD 4 billion of logistics investments in Asia across key markets including Japan, Korea and China.
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