Round Hill enters Nordics with $200m industrial portfolio

Round Hill Capital has acquired a portfolio of logistics and industrial assets based in the Nordics region for approximately $200 million.

The portfolio comprises six aggregated portfolios holding 18 well-located assets spanning approximately 3.5 million square feet across Norway, Denmark and Sweden. London-based Round Hill said the assets provided geographic and tenant diversification, as well as strong covenants across a diversified mix of industries.

The transaction was made in partnership with London-based real estate investment manager StepStone Group Real Estate, although Round Hill did not disclose the partnership’s capital split. The seller was NLI Eiendomsinvest, a real estate investment company based in Oslo, Norway.

Although Round Hill has made acquisitions throughout Europe, including the Netherlands and the UK, this deal represents the firm’s first foray into the Nordics region.

“Round Hill has been evaluating the Nordic markets for several years and is pleased to have acquired the NLI Eiendomsinvest portfolio, which provides stable rental income and positive risk adjusted returns consistent with our overall investment strategy,” Michael Bickford, founder and chief executive officer of Round Hill Capital.

“We will use our firm experience and expertise to build a local management team and continue to look in the market for other portfolios and assets with similar value characteristics,” Bickford added. “We believe the Nordic region benefits from positive macro-economic trends, attractive yields for commercial, industrial and logistics properties and strong rental growth.”

Round Hill’s most recent acquisitions include the May purchase of a Dutch portfolio of residential properties for around €110 million. The portfolio consisted of 980 residential units, totaling 979,000 square feet and spread across 25 Dutch cities.

In April, PERE reported that the investment management firm had engaged with investors with a view to raising €500 million to export its student accommodation business, Nido, into Europe. Round Hill acquired the business alongside a portfolio of three London assets from New York private equity real estate giant The Blackstone Group in 2012, in a deal valued at £415 million ($591 million; €522 million). Last year, the firm sold the London assets to Charleston-based real estate firm Greystar Real Estate Partners for £600 million.

Since buying Nido from Blackstone, Round Hill has become one of Europe’s prominent student accommodation providers. Last year, it is understood to have traded about €1 billion of property in the asset class and sources predict it will buy and sell close to that value this year.