Paris, December 2, 2021 – Ivanhoé Cambridge, a global leader in real estate, announced today the launch of a new last-mile logistics strategy in Northern Europe and the acquisition (completed or in progress) of seven last-mile assets as well as a strong deal pipeline in the Netherlands, in partnership with URBZ Capital (URBZ), an investment and asset management boutique focused on creating the next generation of urban logistics facilities in Northern Europe, with strong ESG ambitions.
The partnership between Ivanhoé Cambridge and URBZ aims to deploy up to €400 million to develop a large portfolio of last-mile logistics assets in the Netherlands and the rest of Northern Europe, namely Germany, Belgium and the Nordics. URBZ will act as asset and investment manager on behalf of Ivanhoé Cambridge. As part of this new strategy, Ivanhoé Cambridge aims to increase its exposure to prime assets that are very well located in the heart s of cities, in line with the ongoing transformation of the supply chain and the latest market standards both in terms of sustainability and innovation.
The acquisition of the first seven assets of the portfolio was secured through “off-market” transactions for a total investment amount of approximately €70 million, over a floor area of around 55,000 square meters. Based in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Eindhoven, they are located in key urban areas and on strategic logistics corridors, allowing to distribute the city centers in less than 15 minutes, or directly by bike, and to appeal to a large quality rental base. Next to being strategically located, these assets will also benefit from a renovation program to improve their environmental and energy performance to meet the highest market standards.
In recent years, Ivanhoé Cambridge has made a significant shift towards the logistics sector, aligned with the rapid e-commerce growth, with investments rising from 5% of its global portfolio in 2015 to 16% in 2020. This new strategy is in line with Ivanhoé Cambridge’s major European logistics hub operations, such as the PLP partnership for the development of first-class logistics hubs in the United Kingdom, and the Hub & Flow portfolio in France, composed of 19 logistics assets totalling 515,000 square meters.
“Our “Last-Mile” strategy aims to anticipate structural market trends and to support new tenants’ needs linked to the rapid e-commerce growth: developing modern and low carbon facilities located in the heart of cities to deliver urban customers faster, said Michael Neuman, Vice-President, Investments, Europe at Ivanhoé Cambridge. Due to the granularity of the “last mile” assets, we deemed it necessary to have a specialized partner to deploy our capital. Alongside URBZ Capital, we look forward to growing our portfolio in other major cities in Northern Europe in the coming years.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering up with Ivanhoe Cambridge in which we have found a top-tier capital partner that has a long-term view and a strong DNA and strategic fit with URBZ Capital. This program will enable us to continue executing on our strategy, creating the next-generation last-mile facilities in Northern Europe”, said Ali Nassiri and Bram Verhoeven, co-founders of URBZ Capital.
Ivanhoé Cambridge and URBZ Capital were advised in these transactions by Avison Young, JLL, 1530 Real Estate, Ooms Makelaars, AKD, Stevens van Dijck and ERM.