PBB provides Clarion with €118 million debt facility for acquisition of logistics portfolio

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, a specialist bank for commercial real estate finance, announced that it provided a €118 million senior loan to support the acquisition of a logistics portfolio by Clarion Partners Europe, on behalf of one of its commingled funds, from funds managed by Blackstone.

Clarion Partners Europe, an investment manager headquartered in London, acquired the portfolio in December for c.€270 million. It marked a continuation of Clarion’s investment strategy in high-quality logistics properties. It followed its July 2023 acquisition, on behalf of one of its commingled funds, of another portfolio from funds managed by Blackstone, totalling 251,800 sqm.

The locations of the German properties include Hessen (Michelsrombach near Fulda), North Rhine-Westphalia (Dortmund), Saxony-Anhalt (Halle), and Saarland (Neunkirchen). The Dutch properties are in established logistics clusters in Eindhoven and near Utrecht. Thorben Schaefer, Director at Clarion Partners Europe, emphasised the considerable future potential of the portfolio, which is to be further developed through targeted asset management and investments in ESG measures.

Gerhard Meitinger, Head of Real Estate Finance Germany, says: “We are proud to support Clarion Partners Europe on this important transaction and are delighted with the successful cooperation. Such collaborations with creditworthy partners and diversified portfolios are perfectly in line with our business profile – and underline not only our financing strength but also our commitment to supporting sustainable investments in the logistics sector.”

Thorben Schaefer, Senior at Clarion Partners Europe, added: “pbb is one of our key institutional partners whose support enabled us to execute what was one of the most sizeable logistics portfolio transactions in Germany in 2023. Closing this facility on attractive terms is a strong endorsement of our strategy, as well as pbb’s high conviction in the logistics asset class.”