Deals

Macquarie, Ivanhoe plotting LOGOS takeover

The advisory firm and the Canadian investor are said to be in the middle of closing a deal to acquire the Sydney-based logistics property company LOGOS that has operations in China and Australia. 

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Australian advisory firm Macquarie Capital and Canadian pension fund Ivanhoe Cambridge are planning to jointly acquire the Sydney-headquartered logistics property company LOGOS.

The deal is yet to be closed, but according to PERE sources and multiple news reports, the two firms are in the process of taking over LOGOS Property Group that reportedly controls close to A$2 billion (€1.26 billion; $1.42 billion) of logistics assets across Australia and China.

The two notified the European Commission at the end of last month about the deal, according to Reuters.

Macquarie Capital did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Ivanhoe Cambridge told PERE the firm cannot confirm the details of the transaction until it is complete and all conditions are met.

The acquisition will give both firms access to LOGOS’ growing warehouse portfolio at a time when the logistics sector is becoming a hot pick in Asia with record capital raising and investments.

Macquarie Capital already owns a strategic interest in LOGOS since 2014 and has also acted as an adviser to the firm in bringing in capital commitments from other institutional investors for Logos Australia and Logos China.

In June last year, Macquarie Capital assisted LOGOS China in securing investments from Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and the Los Angeles-headquartered real estate investment manager CBRE Global Investors for a joint venture partnership called LOGOS China Logistics Club. The individual size of the equity investments was not disclosed, but according to a company statement, the total size of the venture was around $400 million.

LOGOS was established in 2010 by joint managing directors Trent Iliffe and John Marsh. The Singaporean state fund GIC Private was among the first institutions that partnered with the firm. In September 2010, the firm signed an asset management agreement with GIC after it acquired a portfolio of Australian industrial properties for more than $200 million from Salta Property Group.