Joint venture partners Valor Real Estate Partners and Quadreal Property Group have completed a £260m refinancing with Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies secured against the VIQR 1 London Urban Logistics Portfolio.
The circa 1m sq ft portfolio comprises 14 sustainable urban logistics and light industrial assets located in infill London submarkets, which were acquired in separate transactions.
The majority of the assets are multi-let and offer strong income diversification and downside protection. In-place rents remain reversionary relative to current market levels, giving the joint venture partners further headroom to enhance income through lease re-gears, refurbishments and ESG-led repositioning activity.
Matthew Phillips, partner and head of finance at Valor, said: “This portfolio is arguably the best demonstration of our ability to acquire underutilised assets in the most supply-constrained locations and transform them into high-quality, future-proof logistics facilities that meet the evolving needs of occupiers. Leveraging our vertically integrated management model and hands-on asset management team has enabled us to attract and retain a broad range of businesses for whom proximity to consumers and operational efficiency is critical.
“The facility represents our largest refinancing to date and provides us with significant firepower to continue executing on our strategy. Following a highly competitive process, we have expanded our lending relationship with Blackstone, whose shared conviction in the long-term fundamentals of urban logistics and speed of execution made them an ideal financing partner. It further demonstrates the confidence that leading global investors and lenders have in Valor’s market insight, operating model, and ability to unlock value in one of the most structurally supported sectors in real estate.”
Stefano Tomaselli, managing director at Blackstone, added: “We are extremely pleased to continue to grow our lending relationship with Valor and QuadReal against this high-quality, last-mile portfolio. Our ability to underwrite large portfolios efficiently while providing certainty of execution throughout market cycles allows us to consistently deliver for our borrowers.”
Thomas Blangy, senior vice president at QuadReal, said: “This successful refinancing is testament to the strength of our London urban logistics portfolio, and represents an important milestone in the execution of our global investment strategy. The 14 assets are not only well located, they represent the benchmark for ESG-led urban logistics.
“Together with Valor, we have built a high-quality portfolio of industrial and logistics assets across the UK and Europe, all in line with our strategy of targeting major logistics hubs in key target markets, and this transaction will help us to grow our presence in London further.”
