Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), the asset management arm of Australian investment bank Macquarie, has completed the acquisition of a portfolio of logistics and industrial assets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for €79 million.
The portfolio covers four key locations in the two countries, with a focus on the Slovakian capital of Bratislava and other gateway cities. Also included in the transaction, which is the firm’s first real estate deal in the region, is an area of development land which already has planning permission.
The portfolio was made on behalf of an institutional investor mandate. The seller was London-based real estate developer HB Reavis, which sold the portfolio on behalf of its €165 million Central European infrastructure real estate vehicle HB Reavis CE REIF.
MIRA is one of six subsidiaries, along with advisory firm Macquarie Capital, of Sydney-based bank Macquarie. The real assets firm has four departments: infrastructure, energy, agriculture and real estate.
The deal represents the first significant move by MIRA since the expansion of its real estate team over the last 12 months. In January, MIRA hired Steven Sewell as head of real estate to oversee its European and North American business, while last year the firm recruited Ralf Nocker in Europe, Andrew Calderwood in the US, RK Narayan in India and Chia-Wen Toeh in Hong Kong.
Sewell (pictured) said he believes the deal is an indication of the growing importance of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as key European logistics markets.
“These assets were available at an attractive price level. Our current focus is on niche real estate sectors where we see good relative value. The logistics sector in CEE is showing strong fundamentals and remains one of the most interesting property submarkets in Europe,” he added.
HB Reavis’ chief financial officer Marian Herman said: “The successful divestment of this high quality, fully-let industrial portfolio to one of the sector’s top international investors reflects not only the quality of the underlying assets but also the success of our asset management strategy.”
M7 Real Estate, the pan-European investor and asset manager, has been appointed as asset manager for the portfolio. JLL Capital Markets teams in Bratislava and Prague advised MIRA on the acquisition. The seller’s advisory team was not disclosed.
If you do not receive this within five minutes, please try to sign in again. If the problem persists, please email: 
