Bahrain’s Investcorp builds EUR1bn European real estate portfolio

Bahrain’s Investcorp, the biggest private equity and alternative asset manager in the Middle East, announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of ten UK industrial assets, comprising around 660,000 sq ft, via four transactions for a combined purchase price of GBP56.7m.

The recent industrial acquisitions comprise three multi-let and seven single-let industrial properties located in Bedford, Warrington, Stone, Gateshead, Stockton-on-Tees, Christchurch, Aberdeen, Skelmersdale, Cumbernauld, and Cannock.

This brings the total number of transactions that Investcorp has now completed in the UK industrial and logistics market to 15, comprising 53 properties with a combined area of approximately 4.6 million sq ft. Investcorp has now deployed GBP315m into this segment over the past four years.

In June of this year Investcorp also acquired Anchorage 1 & 2, an office property in Salford Quays, Manchester. Anchorage 1 & 2 comprises two multi-let Grade A office buildings, totaling 149,168 sq ft.

Since launching its European real estate business in 2017, Investcorp has therefore invested approximately Eur1bn into 80 properties across the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.

“The UK industrial sector is set to become one of the strongest drivers of real estate, as Covid-19 has rapidly accelerated the shift to online retailing and the resulting demand for industrial space. With a diverse and well-leased base of tenants, we believe that this portfolio will continue to have the potential to generate solid cash flows for our investors,” said Khulood Ebrahim, Real Estate Product Specialist at Investcorp.

Investcorp is reportedly the largest private investor in US real estate.

Earlier this year, Investcorp Holdings delisted from the Bahrain stock exchange after almost four decades. The firm, which manages assets of more than $35bn, offered shareholders the option either to let the company buy back the stock or to remain as investors in a private entity.