CEI-2, an expansion of the Crescent Euro Industrial fund established in 2002, was formed late last year with a target of acquiring Euro 300 million of new and refurbished industrial properties and portfolios leased to quality tenants in major and secondary locations in France, Germany and Italy. The purchase from Cargill was the fund's first acquisition, and several more will close over the next several months. In December, Merrill told GlobeSt.com he expects returns in the "low to mid teens."

The France portfolio consists of seven distribution logistics properties, six located in northern France and one in Avignon in the South of France. Two of the assets are larger than 400,000 sf and four of the six assets are 100% occupied on long-term leases by the French food retailer Carrefour. One of the properties is a recently constructed 500,000-sf building located in a newly developed logistics park in Northern Paris called Lagny-Le-Sec. The fund financed 75% of the purchase price. Aareal Bank provided the senior finance facility.

"We like the locations of these properties and the tenant exposure," Merrill tells GlobeSt.com. Indeed, this is not the first time Heitman has hooked up with Carrefour. In late 2003, on behalf of its Central Europe Property Partners II fund, Heitman acquired an 80% interest in four shopping centers in the Czech Republic that are anchored by a hypermarkets owned and occupied by Carrefour.