The property arm of Baring Private Equity Asia, BPEA Real Estate, has committed US$480m to Chinese logistics property platform, Forest Logistics.
Led by Hank Hsu and Addy Chen, Forest Logistics develops and operates logistics facilities in key gateway cities across China, BPEA said in an announcement.
BPEA raised a large portion of the new commitment between January and March of this year, when the COVID-19 outbreak was at its peak in China. The firm also contributed a portion of the commitment from its BPEA Real Estate Fund II, which closed in 2018.
“Demand for high-quality modern space is increasing much faster than supply, and has accelerated since the COVID-19 outbreak as people change the way they shop,” said Mark Fogle, head of real estate for BPEA Real Estate.
Forest Logistics has acquired eight sites in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Chengdu, representing a combined 683,000 sq.m. of leasable GFA, over the past 16 months.
The first site started operating in Q1 2020, and two sites are already leased to tenants, including one of the largest wholesalers of consumer products and one of the top five third-party logistics (3PL) operators.
The new commitment comes after Australian-based logistics developer and investor Logos Property completed the first close of a new US$800m logistics development venture in China with Canadian investor Ivanhoé Cambridge and Dutch investment manager Bouwinvest last month.
Recently, Logos and real estate investment manager CBRE Global Investors raised RMB 5.5bn (US$786m) in the final closing of their CBRE LOGOS China Logistics Club fund, while warehouse investor and developer GLP raised RMB 15bn (US$2.1bn) in the final closing of its GLP China Income Fund I to support its capital recycling strategy in China.
Last month, Chicago-headquartered LaSalle Investment Management raised US$681m for its first Chinese logistics-focused fund, LaSalle China Logistics Venture.