Verdion nears final close for second logistics fund

JANUARY 2025

The London-based logistics manager has already doubled the capital raised for its previous European value-add vehicle in 2020.

London-based logistics specialist Verdion has scored another €100 million commitment for its second pan-European value-add fund, PERE can reveal, bringing closed capital for the vehicle to at least €325 million against a €400 million target.

The manager declined to identify the fund’s latest backer but said that investors in Verdion European Logistics Fund II generally include pension funds and insurance companies. The fundraise follows a €150 million commitment from CBRE Investment Management in September.

“Investors have welcomed our single-sector strategy focused on asset-level value creation executed by our locally based, in-house technical and commercial teams,” Simon Walter, executive director of Verdion’s investment management division, tells PERE.

Verdion held a first close for the vehicle in September 2023 on €75 million, sourced entirely from investors that also participated in its first fund, for which it raised €158 million in 2020. The firm will use VELF 2’s capital to acquire undermanaged or undercapitalized logistics assets across Northern and Central Europe, particularly in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Including leverage, Verdion expects to deploy about €800 million through the fund.

The manager has made two investments on behalf of VELF 2 to date, both in Denmark: €33.5 million for a newly completed distribution center in Horsens and another near the port city Helsingør for an undisclosed sum.

“We are most focused on existing assets with significant, executable improvement or development potential in supply- constrained markets benefiting from a depth of occupational demand in or close to major urban centers,” says Walter.

Including leverage, Verdion’s first logistics fund invested a combined €300 million across 11 logistics assets in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. The manager sold a UPS-occupied facility outside Prague in 2022 and expects to complete further realizations in Germany and the Netherlands during the first quarter.

Asked whether he had any concerns about potential headwinds ahead for the logistics sector after booming demand in recent years, Walter said he expects Verdion’s approach to hold up in any market.

“We have become well used to operating in an uncertain geopolitical and economic environment over recent years and believe that maintaining disciplined underwriting in our established focus on asset-level value creation, within fundamentally sound submarkets, will continue to serve us well,” he says.

ABOUT ACCORD CAPITAL PARTNERS LLC

Accord, through its affiliates, is a global capital advisor, principal investor and investment manager. With its headquarters in San Francisco and personnel in Chicago, London, Hong Kong and Seoul, Accord engages with a wide variety of participants in the real estate private equity industry. Accord Capital Partners, its broker/dealer affiliate, provides advisory and capital raising services in the United States. Accord Europe Limited, its broker/dealer affiliate, provides advisory and capital raising services in the United Kingdom and Europe. For further information on Accord, visit: www.accord-group.net.