Grupo LAR sells logistics portfolio to Blackstone for €120M

Spanish REIT, LAR España Real Estate SOCIMI S.A. (LRE), has announced the sale of its logistics portfolio for €119.7M, marking a significant milestone in its asset rotation strategy and achieving an 83% value uplift compared to its original purchase price of €65.6 million.

All six properties are extremely well located. More specifically, it has sold four logistics warehouses in Alovera (Guadalajara), one in the Juan Carlos I Business Park in Almussafes (Valencia) and a 182,000m² plot for future logistic use in the Valencian town of Cheste. Alovera is situated within the Corredor del Henares, one of Spain’s main industrial distribution hubs, while Almussafes and Cheste are very close to the city of Valencia, one of the most active commercial and industrial areas in the country. The five logistic properties comprise a total GLA of 162,000m² and are fully let with stable lease agreements.

LAR concluded its first divestment in September 2017, with the sale of an office building in Madrid’s Arturo Soria . Since then, the fund has divested a total of €265M which is over half of the €470M divestment target which was set out in their 2018-2021 Business Plan. According to José Luis del Valle, chairman of LAR, “the sale of the logistics portfolio demonstrates that we are diligently complying with our Business Plan and its value uplift reflects the sound management of our properties. We will continue to execute our portfolio rotation strategy, by making timely divestments of non-strategic assets, so that we can focus on our retail portfolio, which lies at the core of our strategy”.

LAR España was one of the first Spanish REITs to invest in logistic assets and acquired the properties in Alovera between August 2014 and May 2015. The property in Almussafes was bought in May 2015. LAR was advised by CBRE, Pérez Llorca and Hill International.