CBRE IM sources €275m logistics loan from trio of banks

CBRE Investment Management has sourced a €275 million financing from a consortium of banks to support the growth of its pan-European logistics strategy.

The New York-headquartered real estate manager has agreed the loan with Dutch lenders ABN AMRO and ING, and French bank Crédit Agricole CIB. It will use the loan in part to refinance maturing debt, and to finance new acquisitions.

The unsecured term loan has been designed with an accordion provision of up to €500 million. In a statement, CBRE IM said the financing will enable further growth of its logistics strategy, and also position it to “access multiple debt capital sources”.

Tom Berens, senior director in the treasury and debt financing team at CBRE IM, said the closing of the deal followed a thorough process. “Despite this capital-constrained market, we are still able to raise a significant debt quantum and we look forward to harnessing the opportunities this new facility will allow us to capitalise on,” he said.

The three banks have structured the facility to become a sustainability-linked loan during 2023, CBRE IM said. Through its European logistics platform, the firm focuses on buying high quality properties in off-market sales, with all acquisitions – and developments – required to achieve at least a BREEAM ‘good’ sustainability rating.

In recent months, rising financing costs have impacted owners of logistics in Europe – a sector in which assets have traded at low yields for several years. In research published last month, manager AEW said the sector has also been hit by an overall slowdown in retail sales volumes and weak economic sentiment which has impacted occupier demand.

However, it said take-up looks set to recover as manufacturing and shipping revert to long-term growth. AEW even revised its rental growth forecasts for the sector for 2023-27, from 2.5 percent per year in its September 2022 projection, to 3 percent per year. It added logistics was the fastest sector to reprice, losing an average 14 percent of value across European markets.

There is evidence of continued acquisition activity in European logistics, despite the overall market slowdown. Last month, CBRE IM acquired 829,000 square feet of land near Helsingborg in Sweden to speculatively develop a warehouse totalling 495,000 square feet, with a BREEAM Excellent certification targeted.

Speaking at the time, Justine Weber Bret, director of asset management and transactions for logistics in the Nordics at CBRE IM said the firm had ambitions to strengthen its logistics portfolio. “The logistics sector has remained resilient in a time of wider market uncertainty, with demand remaining for well-located, high-quality, and sustainable assets,” she said.