GPT Halverton raises €83m for Dutch fund

Interest continues in logistics in the Benelux region with this latest fund focusing on the Netherlands.

GPT Halverton has launched the Dutch Active Fund with a total of €83 million ($122.5 million) of equity. A second and final close of up to €50 million more is planned for mid 2008

The fund, which received commitments from European institutional investors, already owns a portfolio of 40 assets valued at €292 million. The closed-end fund has a planned life of seven years.
 
The new fund will acquire a diversified portfolio of office, commercial, and light industrial assets throughout the Netherlands. GPT has a tea of 20 professionals in the country who have been working to seed the portfolio, which currently comprises 21 offices, 18 light industrial properties and one logistics center. The properties are predominantly located within the Randstad region of the Netherlands, home to the Netherlands’ four largest cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. The portfolio is let to 104 tenants including Wolters Kluwer, Vodafone Libertel, GTI Mechanical Rotterdam BV and RGD (Rijksgebouwen Dienst), the Dutch government buildings department.

“We are seeing upward pressure on rental income in the Netherlands due to the limited supply of good quality buildings coupled with the strong demand for commercial property,” said DAF fund director David Ebbrell in a statement.

GPT Halverton was created in July of last year when Halverton Real Estate Investment Management, set up in London in 2004 to focus on Europe,  was acquired by Australian property group GPT. 

The Netherlands, along with Belgium has been attracting increasing attention from international logistics investors. The region possesses the first and third largest container ports in Europe, at Rotterdam and Antwerp, respectively. Earlier this month, the Chicago-based REIT, launched a $475 million joint venture with CalSTRS to invest across the hinterland of both countries.

DAF is the sixth fund to be established by GPT Halverton and comes soon after the closing late last year of the German Retail Partnership, which raised €126.5 million.

Debt for the DAF portfolio thus far has been secured with Eurohypo with an LTV of 60 percent and interest rate hedging is in place for the life of the Fund. Teresa Gilchrist, Director for New Business, led the Fund closing process.