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Brookfield has outbid Segro in the race to acquire Tritax EuroBox, as the FTSE 250 warehouse owner’s board recommended the Canadian private capital group’s latest all-cash offer.
The board said Brookfield’s offer, which values Tritax EuroBox shares at £557mn, represented an “attractive premium for . . . shareholders over the terms of the Segro offer”. The company had recommended Segro’s all-share offer to shareholders in September.
The duel between Brookfield and Segro — the UK’s largest listed landlord — comes as commercial property dealmaking is heating up after a two-year lull, particularly for warehouse properties.
Strong demand from the ecommerce industry since the pandemic has placed logistics properties as one of the most attractive segments of the commercial real estate sector.
Brookfield has been building a logistics business in Europe since 2018, and has invested €1bn over the past 18 months — mostly in smaller deals.
Warehouse prices have fallen less than other property types since 2022 and are also recovering faster. Asset values in the industrial sector, which includes logistics, gained almost 1 per cent in the year to June, according to a Green Street index — a stronger result than other property types.
Blackstone last month acquired another large warehouse portfolio, in a €1bn transaction, adding to the US investment group’s bet on the logistics sector. In one of the region’s largest property deals this year, it bought 80 per cent of the European logistics portfolio of Johannesburg-listed landlord Burstone.
The deals come as activity in the wider commercial real estate market picks up following a two-year slump that hit asset prices and depressed transaction levels. European commercial real estate dealmaking, which fell to a 13-year low at the start of the year, is showing signs of revival.
More investors are searching for property vehicles trading at lower prices and wider discounts. Segro raised £900mn of fresh equity earlier this year to target buying opportunities. Brookfield, meanwhile, put London’s CityPoint skyscraper up for sale in September.
