Real estate funds managed by Blackstone have agreed to sell their pan European logistics company, Logicor, to affiliates of China Investment Corporation (CIC) for €12.25 billion. Logicor owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality logistics assets totalling 147 million square feet, in 17 countries with over 70% concentrated in the UK, Germany, France and Southern Europe.
Anthony Myers, Blackstone’s Head of Real Estate Europe said: “We built Logicor through over 50 acquisitions to be a premier pan European logistics real estate company. It will now have an excellent new long term owner, and we have no doubt that it will go from strength to strength in a sector with hugely positive prospects.”
Closing is expected to occur later this year. Eastdil Secured and Goldman Sachs were lead advisors to Blackstone with additional advice provided by PJT Partners, Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal advisors to Blackstone. UBS acted as financial advisor to CIC. Clifford Chance acted as legal advisors to CIC.
Headquartered in Beijing, CIC was founded on 29 September 2007 as a wholly state-owned company incorporated in accord with China's Company Law, with registered capital of $200 billion. As China's sovereign wealth fund, CIC serves as a vehicle to diversify China's foreign exchange holdings and seeks maximum returns for its shareholder within acceptable risk tolerance. By the end of 2015, CIC's total assets had surpassed $810 billion.
