Logos, Manulife establish South Korea logistics venture with $200m seed asset

Logos, Manulife establish South Korea logistics venture with $200m seed asset

Logos and Manulife Investment Management have established Logos Korea Core Venture to invest in logistics facilities in South Korea.

The partnership announced the acquisition of the venture’s seed asset, Logos Siheung Logistics Centre; a circa US$200m forward purchase logistics facility in the Seoul Capital Area (SCA).

Logos said this is its second partnership with Manulife.

Located in the Banwol-Siwha National Industrial Complex in Gyeonggi Province, approximately 50 minutes from Seoul CBD, the Logos Siheung Logistics Centre will comprise state-of-the-art dry and cold warehouse facilities when completed in early 2024.

The property has been designed by one of Korea’s largest architecture firms and is being developed by a highly experienced warehouse contractor. The property will offer a total GFA of c.100,000 sqm on completion and will be LEED Gold certified.

Trent Iliffe, Logos’ Managing Director and Co-CEO, said: “We are very pleased to be extending our partnership with Manulife Investment Management into Korea, having welcomed them into our business in our Vietnam venture earlier this year. Korea is a key growth market for Logos and we look forward to delivering on the many opportunities through this new partnership.”

Logos’ Head of Korea, Sung Park, said, “Ecommerce continues to reshape logistics requirements in Korea, with occupiers requiring modern logistics facilities and increasingly sophisticated solutions to address the continuing growing demand in this market. The acquisition of the LOGOS Siheung Logistics Centre property is a rare opportunity to acquire a significantly de-risked, institutional-grade asset in a supply constrained location of the Seoul Capital Area. The property will provide our tenants with state-of-the-art facilities that can incorporate automation and other leading technologies to service their customers in Seoul and across Korea.”

A joint statement from Gerald Posthuma, Chief Investment Officer of Asia General Account Investments and Jessie Liu, Managing Director and Head of Asia Real Estate Transactions for Manulife, reads “We are delighted to partner with Logos again shortly after our Vietnam venture as we continue our expansion across the region. Korea is a key market in the APAC region and modern warehouses and distribution centres continue to benefit from the country’s advanced and growing ecommerce. The Logos Siheung Logistics Centre will be a great addition to the logistics portfolio of Manulife’s General Account. Expected to be a LEED Gold certified property post completion, it underscores our commitment to sustainable investing, through which we believe the resiliency of our investments can be strengthened.”

The Logos Korea Core Venture is LOGOS’ second venture in Korea. The Korea development venture was launched earlier this year with total investment capacity of US$1.3 billion alongside Dutch fund manager Bouwinvest and two other existing institutional investors.