KKR, Round Hill Capital (RHC) and Longridge Capital (LRC) have sold Italian logistics portfolio from their Elizabeth real estate fund to EQT Exeter for €117.5 million.
The Elizabeth portfolio comprises nine assets with a total of approximately 131,000 sqm of last mile logistics space, throughout Central and Northern Italy with principal concentrations in the Milan market (approximately 45% by lettable area), Emilia-Romagna region (27%) and the Rome market (16%). The portfolio is fully leased.
KKR, RHC a Round Hill Capital and Longridge Capital agreed to invest in October 2018 to acquire logistics investments across select areas of Italy as part of the expansion of KKR’s Southern European Logistics platform.
The Elizabeth portfolio is the second disposal by the co-investors following the sale of the Victoria Big Box logistics portfolio totaling approximately 66,000 sqm of net lettable area to Morgan Stanley in 2020 for €51m.
The Elizabeth portfolio was held in an Italian real estate fund managed by Namira SGR, an independent asset management company based in Italy focusing on real estate and credit funds.
Seb d’Avanzo, Managing Director at KKR, commented: “We are delighted with the conclusion to this investment which was part of our successful thematic strategy around Southern European logistics. The sector continues to be a strong investment focus for us across Europe as we continue to see very favourable tailwinds for logistics.”
Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, added: “This sale is in line with our long term strategy of sourcing quality opportunities in local markets and optimising the value of underlying assets to drive returns. Yields in logistics continue to benefit from significant tailwinds driven by post-pandemic shifts in supply chains, and the sector remains a key focus area for Round Hill Capital and one in which we remain committed to expanding our presence across Europe.”
Gavin Geddes, Managing Director at Longridge Capital, stated: “We have successfully aggregated, repositioned and fully let this portfolio and have exited ahead of business plan to a long term investor. We believe that the Elizabeth and prior Victoria Portfolio sales draw to a conclusion a very successful collaboration with KKR and RHC.”
KKR’s investment was made through its Real Estate Partners Europe fund, its first dedicated European real estate fund, which closed in June 2016 with US$739 million in capital commitments.
In July 2021, KKR announced the final closing of KKR Real Estate Partners Europe II, a US$2.2 billion fund dedicated to value add and opportunistic real estate investments in Western Europe.
