Warehouse Platform Logos Closes 2nd $400M JV with Ivanhoe and CBRE GI

Logos Property has announced its second joint venture with Ivanhoe Cambridge and CBRE Global Investors as the Australian-based logistics developer ramps up its investments in mainland China.

The three partners have formed Logos China Logistics Venture (LCLV), according to a joint announcement late Friday, with the goal of investing “approximately $400 million” into owning and developing logistics facilities in Shanghai and neighbouring cities.

The joint venture is the second for the three companies and the announcement follows just over a year after the partners announced their $400 million Logos China Logistics Club (LCLC) in June 2015.

Partners Target Shanghai Projects

“This is an exciting next step in the growth of Logos’ business in China,” commented John Marsh, Joint Managing Director and co-founder of the Sydney and Shanghai-based developer. Marsh formed the company in 2010 with fellow industrial real estate veteran Trent Iliffe, who previously worked in China with Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment Management.

With China’s ecommerce market growing at more than 30 percent per year, the country’s demand for modern warehouse facilities continues to outstrip demand and drive healthy returns for logistics developers such as Logos. Competition for space has been particularly heavy around the country’s first-tier cities, such as Shanghai, where economic growth and consumer spending continue to outstrip the rest of the country.

Ivanhoé Cambridge’s investment with Logos supports our plan to increase exposure to Shanghai and its surrounding key logistics hubs,” explained Rita-Rose Gagné, Executive Vice President, Growth Markets, for Ivanhoe Cambridge. “Logos has identified an attractive portfolio of existing assets and development opportunities which make Logos a partner of choice for Ivanhoe Cambridge.”

Ivanhoe Cambridge Continues String of Asian Investments

Ivanhoe Cambridge also backed Logos in its June push into the Singapore market, injecting $110 million into Logos Southeast Asia Venture, which kicked off with the purchase of a pair of logistics facilities in Singapore.

For the Canadian firm, this China joint venture is the latest in a series of deals with Logos and shows a continued focus on Asian markets. The real estate arm of Montreal-based Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, together with Australia’s Macquarie, also made a strategic investment into Logos during February of this year.

During 2015, in the same month Ivanhoe Cambridge entered its earlier Logos JV, the real estate investment giant joined with Dutch pension fund manager APG to invest $920 million in Shanghai commercial developer Chongbang Group.

Macquarie Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to Logos for this latest transaction and as sole lead manager and arranger for the LCLV capital raising, according to a statement released by the three companies.