Eastern
European Logistics Developer
2008-05-11
Al Bawaba
Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain, today announced that it and its affiliates have completed the acquisition of Pinnacle Real Estate (“Pinnacle”), a leading developer and operator of logistics warehouses in Central and Eastern Europe. The transaction includes an existing portfolio of leased warehouses of approximately 230,000 square meters, as well as a land bank of nearly 1.5 million square meters for future development. The majority shareholder prior to the acquisition was Merrill Lynch through its Global Principal Investments group (GPI).
Pinnacle was founded 7 years ago, and in that time, the company has successfully grown into one of the leading developers in logistics in its markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Pinnacle has offices in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, and is well placed to benefit from the positive economic development and the build out of distribution networks in Central and Eastern Europe.
Atif A. Abdulmalik, Arcapita’s Chief Executive Officer, commented as follows: “With its growing footprint in Central and Eastern Europe, we are very pleased to have added Pinnacle to our European real estate portfolio. Pinnacle has quickly built up an attractive mix of yielding and developmental assets to become a dominant developer in what we believe are high growth markets with excellent further appetite for modern and well situated warehousing and distribution facilities. Pinnacle also fits well with our existing portfolio of West European logistics warehouses, and takes our total European investment into this sector to over 1.4 billion, representing a total of approximately 2 million square meters of developed and developable warehouse space.”
Arcapita’s acquisition of Pinnacle solidifies Arcapita’s position as a major investor in industrial real estate in Europe, and the transaction joins the recent joint venture agreement with Prologis to form Prologis Middle East, which will develop and manage up to $1 billion of modern logistics warehouses in Saudi Arabia and the rest of GCC, estimated to total over 1 million square meters. Arcapita has also previously partnered with Prologis in the United States, where it invested in 79 fully leased assets across the country.
Martin Carr, a founder and Chief Executive of Pinnacle, commented “We are very pleased to be in partnership with Arcapita as we develop this business. With their track record in the sector, and our shared belief in the opportunity for further growth, they are a valuable long term shareholder that will be fully involved in supporting our plans for growth.”
About ArcapitaHeadquartered in Bahrain with offices in Atlanta, London and Singapore, Arcapita’s four principal lines of business are corporate investment, real estate investment, asset-based investment and venture capital. To date, the Bank has completed 66 transactions with a total value of almost $23 billion and has an equity capital base of $1.1 billion. Arcapita’s mission is to provide innovative and distinctive investment opportunities that generate superior risk-adjusted returns while adhering to Islamic principles.
Full details of Arcapita can be found at www.arcapita.com
About Merrill LynchMerrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Merrill Lynch invested in Pinnacle through its Global Principal Investments group (GPI), which is responsible for investing proprietary capital into real estate transactions. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
