Crossbay grows logistics portfolio in Spain with €60m acquisition

Crossbay grows logistics portfolio in Spain with €60m acquisition

Pan-European urban logistics platform Crossbay has acquired a 43,000 sq.m last-mile logistics warehouse in Montcada, Barcelona for €60 million.

Crossbay said the transaction marks its fourth acquisition in Barcelona and its 12th in Spain.

The tenant, Condis, a food retailer, has committed to a 10-year mandatory period on a 40-year lease

Crossbay’s Spanish portfolio now totals over 150,000, sq.m, taking the total size of its European portfolio to almost 800,000 sq.m. Crossbay aims to secure €500m assets under management (AUM) in Spain over the next three years. 

The acquisition is the latest in Crossbay’s €1.5bn expansion strategy across Europe’s core real estate markets.

The platform is seeking to capitalise upon the continent’s e-commerce boom by targeting urban logistics assets, primarily single-user distribution centres, in locations no more than 90 minutes from the nearest city centre.

Turbocharged by the pandemic, global e-commerce sales have skyrocketed by almost 380% since 2014, with a significant portion of that growth concentrated in key European markets. Sales volumes in Spain increased by 35% throughout 2020, leading to heightened demand for logistics real estate, with investment and prime rents increasing. 

Marco Riva, head of Crossbay and logistics at MARK, comments: “We’re thrilled to get this deal over the line in what was a highly competitive process. A restricted number of key investors were invited to place bids but we were able to secure exclusivity as a result of our tried and tested DD procedures, certainty of execution and strong track record.

“The sourcing and acquisition of these types of opportunities requires an intimate knowledge of the local marketplace, which we can draw on thanks to our genuine pan-European presence through our network of in-country teams. 

“Historically Spain had one of the lowest e-commerce adoption rates in Europe but the pandemic has accelerated the shift to online shopping and there is huge potential to modernise existing logistics facilities to meet the demands of occupiers and investors.” 

Crossbay was launched by investment manager MARK, formerly Meyer Bergman, in May 2020 and has since gone on to acquire almost 120 assets across the continent to create Europe’s largest pure play urban logistics portfolio. 

Crossbay is the logistics platform incubated by real estate manager MARK (formerly Meyer Bergman).