Griffin Real Estate and Madison International Realty, leading private equity investment companies, announced a joint venture for their two first investments together in Germany. With Griffin’s development partner, Panattoni, a market-leading European logistic developer, the firms will develop two build-to-suit properties, with a footprint area of over 7,000 sqm and 9,100 sqm respectively, that have been leased to Amazon on a 15-year lease with a combined investment volume over €80 million.
The two transactions are Griffin Real Estate’s first major acquisitions in Europe outside of Poland, and a second joint project of this leading Polish private equity investment manager with Madison International Realty. The two companies have been working together since January 2020, when they began their strategic partnership in the logistics sector in Poland.
One property will be constructed in North-Rhine Westphalia, 70 km east of Cologne, and with a direct link to the A4 and A45 highways, the site is positioned between Amazon’s fulfilment centres in Coblenz, Dortmund and Werne. The other property will be erected 70 km southeast of Lower Saxony’s largest city Hannover and in proximity to Wolfsburg (55 km east) with an intersection of important north-south (A7) and west-east (A2) connections.
The projects are planned as build-to-suit investments, developed to Amazon’s requirements in order to accommodate modern logistics’ specific needs. The planned completion date for the first new delivery station is targeted for late 2021 and the second for spring 2022. The lease agreements with Amazon have been signed for 15 years.
“This venture with the two first acquisitions in Germany is a strategic win for us at Griffin Real Estate and another milestone in our expansion. We are very pleased with our company’s entry into the promising German logistics market. Having initially being concentrated on the Polish market, we are constantly looking for further attractive opportunities for our international expansion also in markets like Spain and the Netherlands”, said Nebil Senman, Managing Partner at Griffin Real Estate.
“Venturing into a new market, especially in times of pandemic, can be challenging, and would not be possible without the reliable support of Madison International Realty. We are delighted that Madison has chosen to work with us again as its investment partner, also in Germany”, added Maciej Dyjas, Managing Partner at Griffin Real Estate.
“We view both deals as an important milestone for our investment strategy in the European logistics sector giving us exposure to what we believe are well-located prime new assets on long leases to Amazon”, said Matthias Cordier, Managing Director at Madison International Realty.
“This venture is fully in line with our strategy of working alongside what we believe are outstanding local partners to leverage opportunities in rapidly-growing sectors and markets and we will seek to continue our successful cooperation with Griffin Real Estate and Panattoni, in order to further expand and capitalize on the opportunities in the European logistic sector”, said Derek Jacobson, Madison International Realty Co-Chief Investment Officer.
