Aquila Capital announces first close of Southern European Logistics Fund

Hamburg, 17 January 2022 – Today, Aquila Capital announces the launch of its Aquila Capital Southern European Logistics S.A. SICAV-RAIF (“ACSEL”) fund. The strategy focusses on investments in a diversified portfolio of logistic real estate assets in Southern European countries including Italy, Spain and Portugal. The open-ended fund has a target investment volume (GAV) of EUR 1.5 billion with a maximum debt ratio (LTV) of 50 percent. 

The fund will focus on modern and energy-efficient logistics properties which are built and operated by the highest standards of energy efficiency and environmental protection, and which create added value by combining sustainability, attractive rental conditions, and strategic locations. Selection criteria include proximity to transportation hubs to minimize carbon emissions related to transport and sustainable building standards which include BREEAM certification, the installation of rooftop photovoltaic panels and the offsetting of CO2 emissions.

ACSEL is launched with a committed equity volume of EUR 330 million raised from international institutional investors, including SCI Primonial Capimmo. The fund initially aimed to raise EUR 250 million, yet based on strong demand the first closing volume was upsized to EUR 330 million. ACSEL expects to deploy the capital of the first closing within 18 months, benefiting from the sizeable investment pipeline secured by Aquila Capital. The first investment has already been approved, a 115,000 sqm logistic site in Azambuja, a strategic and core logistics hub in Lisbon’s metropolitan area. 70% of the asset has been pre-let to a blue-chip tenant with a lease term of 20 years firm.

Roman Rosslenbroich, CEO and co-founder of Aquila Capital, comments: “We see an increasing interest among institutional investors for sustainable real estate assets, including logistics centres. The Aquila Capital Southern European Logistics fund provides a response to this demand, focusing on Southern European markets where we see still a lot of opportunities due to the need for modern, large-scale storage space. Our investors will benefit from our long-standing real estate expertise - a total transaction volume of EUR 2.6 billion covering a total area of more than 1,800,000 square meters – as well as early market entry advantages due to our local teams. This real estate segment matches the strategies of investors and tenants, which all see ESG criteria, for all sustainability, as a fundamental, necessary value to contribute to the global energy transition.”

Lars Meisinger, Head International Client Advisory & Corporate Development at Aquila Capital, comments: “In recent years, the overall return on logistics has outperformed all other real estate sectors and we expect this to continue. Persistent uncertainty around supply chain disruption is supporting demand for distribution centres thanks to their central role in e-commerce. In a post-Covid world, we expect companies continue to seek more and more logistics space to adapt to rapidly evolving consumer trends and make their supply chains more resilient to deal with new disruptions. With its specialist investment capability in logistics, residential and data centres, Aquila Capital is a competent partner for institutional investors to extend their allocation to these important sectors.”

Rolf Zarnekow, Head of Real Estate at Aquila Capital explains: “The European prime rents for logistics properties are rising faster than they have been in over two decades. This rental growth is mostly concentrated in strategic locations of the major metropolitan areas, while less central big box locations continue to lag behind, but even there we see rent increases gradually outperforming inflation as scarcity emerges. We expect this trend to continue, since take-up is likely to remain at a structurally higher level. While vacancy for excellently located, modern large-scale logistics facilities has been sustainably very low for many years, the overall vacancy rate has also fallen in an increasing number of locations and will therefore support further rental growth.”

Kempen & Co acts as the sole advisor for the capital raise.

Since 2012, Aquila Capital has invested in Green Logistics, combining environmental and economic efficiency and reducing the impact of its logistics investments on the environment. Aquila Capital has a strong track record in logistics investments, with a focus on green logistics facilities in Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Its logistics investments comprise development projects as well as existing, long-term rented properties. The total transaction volume since 2012 accumulates more than EUR 729 million with a total transacted rentable area of more than 879,000 square meters.

About Aquila Capital: 

Aquila Capital is an investment and asset development company focused on generating and managing essential assets on behalf of its clients. By investing in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, Aquila Capital contributes to the global energy transition and strengthens the world’s infrastructure backbone. The company initiates, develops, and manages these essential assets along the entire value chain and lifetime. Currently, Aquila Capital manages around EUR 13 billion on behalf of institutional investors worldwide. Our primary objective is to generate performance for our clients by managing the complexity of essential assets.

Today, the company manages wind energy, solar PV and hydropower assets of more than 12 GW capacity. Additionally, 1.8 million square metres of sustainable real estate and green logistics projects have been completed or are under development. Aquila Capital also invests in energy efficiency, carbon forestry, and data centres. Aquila Capital has been carbon neutral since 2006. Sustainability has always been part of our value system and is an integral part of our investment strategies, processes, and management of our assets. The company has around 600 employees from 48 nations, operating in 15 offices in 13 countries worldwide.

Further information: https://www.aquila-capital.de/en/ 

Press contact Aquila Capital:

Eliza De Waard
Group Head Corporate Communications 
Aquila Capital 
Phone: +49 40 87 5050-101
Email: eliza.dewaard@aquila-capital.com