Chicago-headquartered LaSalle Investment Management has raised US$681m for its first Chinese logistics-focused fund, according to reports from IREI and IPE.
The LaSalle China Logistics Venture (LCLV) fund reportedly received equity commitments from new and existing investors from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The fund will develop new properties and acquire existing assets in first-tier and second-tier cities located in China’s key logistics regions, including the Yangtze River Delta, Bohai Bay and Greater Bay areas.
LCLV has recently acquired two development sites, as well as three stabilised logistics assets.
The fundraising activity comes after LaSalle commenced construction on five new logistics developments in Shanghai Qingpu, Suzhou, Jiaxing, Chongqing and Xi’an in June last year.
The projects were scheduled for completion in early 2020, delivering 359,000 sq.m. of leasable gross floor area.
Local and overseas developers, fund managers and investors have been very active in China’s logistics real estate investment market in recent months.
Last week, real estate investment manager CBRE Global Investors and logistics developer and investor Logos raised RMB 5.5bn (US$786m) in the final closing of the CBRE LOGOS China Logistics Club fund.
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Hong Kong-listed ESR established a US$500m Chinese logistics joint venture in January, while warehouse investor and developer GLP launched a new RMB 15bn (US$2.1bn) Chinese logistics fund last December.
Logistics property specialist Prologis and HIP China Logistics Investments also committed a further US$882m to their latest Chinese logistics joint venture last December.
LaSalle also raised JPY 61bn (US$560m) in the first closing of the LaSalle Japan Property fund, its first private open-ended core property fund in Asia, in November last year.