GCP Sells 12 Logistics Assets in Brazil to Brookfield, BTG Pactual for $300M

GLP Capital Partners on Wednesday announced the sale of 12 logistics assets in Brazil via two separate transactions totalling $300 million, with a source identifying the buyers as Brookfield Asset Management and BTG Pactual.

The properties span 642,000 square metres (6.9 million square feet) of gross leasable area in key metro locations of Brazil’s most populous Sao Paulo state, the asset management arm of Asian warehouse specialist GLP said in a release.

A person familiar with the transactions confirmed to Mingtiandi that North American investment giant Brookfield and domestic financial group BTG Pactual picked up the assets, which were sold on behalf of two GCP Brazil funds.

“The sale of these 12 assets is a result of our focus on enhancing the assets’ appeal to the institutional market and supports our continued efforts to monetize and recycle capital for our partners,” said Ralf Wessel, GCP’s global head of fundraising.

Fully Leased Sheds

GCP provided no specific details about the assets, saying only that they are fully leased to “top-tier customers” including national and international operators in pharmaceuticals, retail, third-party logistics and fast-moving consumer goods.

Wednesday’s announcement came almost 10 years after GLP acquired a portfolio of 34 assets in Brazil from local investor BR Properties for $1.4 billion. With the latest disposals complete, GCP now has $3.1 billion in assets under management as part of what it calls Brazil’s largest logistics platform.

The Brazilian assets account for 2.5 percent of GCP’s $126 billion in real estate and private equity AUM globally. The company said it plans to continue investing and deploying resources to increase its footprint in Brazil over the long term.

“We believe the Brazilian logistics market fundamentals remain highly attractive,” said Mauro Dias, GCP’s Brazil president. “Despite the challenging macroeconomic climate, we continue to see high levels of occupier demand for best-in-class logistics space and these transactions underpin our team’s ability to identify and deliver on the right opportunities in the best locations, where we can utilise our development and asset management capabilities to drive added value.”

Fast-Paced Fundraising

GCP has raised cash at a furious pace of late, including with the final closings of its 11th and 12th Chinese income funds within the last two months.

In late December, the company revealed its China Income Fund XI with AUM of RMB 3 billion ($420 million), backed by an unnamed Chinese insurer. The fund is seeded with four logistics parks from GLP’s balance sheet with a total leasable area of 540,000 square metres.

GCP on Monday unveiled its China Income Fund XII with AUM of RMB 10 billion in partnership with a global institutional investor. The vehicle is seeded with 25 logistics and business park assets from GLP’s balance sheet with total leasable area of more than 2.2 million square metres.

This month also saw GCP-backed Hidden Hill Capital announce the final close of its PE RMB Fund II targeting logistics and proptech firms, with the strategy having raised RMB 8 billion in capital commitments.