SFO Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild REIM enter into a joint venture for the development of a last mile logistics and light industrial portfolio in Paris and Lyon

London, January 18^th, 2023 – SFO Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild REIM, acting as investment advisor on behalf of its fund Smart Estate Fund 2 (“Smart Estate 2”) and as asset manager on this transaction, have entered into a joint venture to forward fund the development with JMG Partners of a portfolio of two sites of logistics located in key hubs of Paris and Lyon. Once completed, the portfolio will comprise three buildings, totaling 62,248 sqm of leasable area, and will adhere to the highest technical and environmental standards by achieving BREEAM Excellent, BiodiverCity and HQE Aménagement Durable certifications.

Commenting on this transaction, Mohamad Abouchalbak, CEO at SFO Capital Partners, said: “We are thrilled to advance the expansion of our investment program on this sector. Following the Netherlands and Italy, we are now entering another major European logistic market. We are equally excited about the strategic partnership with Edmond de Rothschild REIM, marking the beginning of a promising collaboration”.

Caroline Demol, Fund Manager of Smart Estate 2, declared: “This transaction marks the first investment of Smart Estate 2 and fulfils a strategic allocation to this sector, by capitalising on reshoring and supply chain shortening, as well as building divisibility, post market repricing. This acquisition has been made possible thanks to Edmond de Rothschild REIM (France) strong deal sourcing and loan origination capabilities, as well as thanks to a fruitful and productive collaboration with SFO Capital Partners”.                    

The assets are located in Vaires-sur-Marne (26,765 sqm) and Mionnay (35,483 sqm), within major industrial and distribution activity sites along the so-called French logistics backbone characterized by robust demand levels, near-zero vacancy rates and double-digit rental growth. These established locations serve a consumption area of more than 30 million people, benefiting from excellent connectivity with an extensive road and airfreight infrastructure.

Tarek Germanos, CIO at SFO Capital Partners, said:“We are excited about this investment that highlights our high conviction on superior quality assets in heavily undersupplied markets with robust demand. Our emphasis will be to cater to tenants in search of a suitable space while also prioritizing the highest ESG standards. This approach is poised to significantly enhance the attractiveness to institutional investors seeking stabilized high-quality sustainability-driven assets”.

Kristelle Wauters, President, and Alexis Mignonac, Head of Investments of Edmond de Rothschild REIM (France), added: “This transaction demonstrates once again our ongoing commitment to creating value for our investors, while contributing to the development of sustainable real estate. We are thrilled about this first collaboration with SFO Capital Partners, a first of many more to come”.

These assets, developed by JMG Partners, are designed to be highly divisible and offer maximum flexibility and optimum accessibility to future tenants. The buildings meet the growing demand for efficient, with remarkable architecture, environmentally friendly real estate solutions, and will enable a wide range of users to rationalize their floor space, while benefiting from ICPE (installation classified for the protection of the environment) advantages.

SFO Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild REIM were advised by Screeb (Aurélien Bourdet), Gide Loyrette Nouel (Hugues Moreau), Theop for technical aspects and BNP Paribas Real Estate.

JMG Partners was advised by Allez & Associés (Guillaume Chemithe) and by Alcaix (Louis Picarle), with CBRE and JLL acting as brokers. This operation was financed by Banque Palatine (as Agent) and Banque Populaire Rives de Paris, which was advised by 14 Pyramides (Alexandre Salmon).