Massive Platform Buys Becoming Common

CHICAGO—As reported yesterday in GlobeSt.com, less than six months after closing on its $8.1-billion acquisition of the Blackstone Group’s IndCor industrial platform, Global Logistics Properties has decided to acquire yet another massive US portfolio. The Shanghai-based company said it had agreed to acquire 100 properties that have a total of 58 million square feet from Industrial Income Trust for $4.55 billion. And it won’t be a surprise if similar multi-billion deals get announced in 2015.

“Industrial is one of the most favored asset classes across the globe,” Erik Foster, a Chicago-based principal with Avison Young, tells GlobeSt.com. But individual class A industrial properties are usually far less expensive class A office or multifamily properties, and aggregating these assets takes a lot of manpower and time. Therefore, “in order for investors to get significant amounts of money out the door, they need to do it with platform plays like this.”