Valor Real Estate Partners (“Valor”), the pan-European logistics platform, has acquired the New England Industrial Estate, a six-unit, 144,000 sq ft industrial estate in Barking, East London. It represents the first acquisition on behalf of Valor’s recently launched Joint Venture (the “JV”) with QuadReal Property Group (“QuadReal”), which was formed to invest over €1 billion in urban logistics assets located in key cities in the UK, France and Germany.

The New England Industrial Estate occupies a highly sought-after last mile logistics location at the junction of the North Circular and A13, two of London’s major arterial routes, which can be reached in one and three minutes respectively. Nearly two million people live within 30 minutes’ drive time, whilst London’s two main commercial districts, the City of London and Canary Wharf, are similarly accessible.

In its current configuration, the estate comprises six industrial units, ranging in size from c. 7,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft. Valor intends to reposition the estate as part of its business plan, delivering assets that will cater to last-mile logistics operators, given the accessibility and connectivity of the location.

Launched earlier this month, Valor’s JV with QuadReal will focus primarily on urban, in-fill logistics assets located in the greater metropolitan areas of London, Paris and Berlin, with a secondary focus on major UK and EU gateway cities, such as Manchester, Lyon and Frankfurt.

Cane Napolitano, Partner, Head of Investments, at Valor, commented:

“This is a great opportunity to acquire a prime East London industrial property at scale and demonstrates our capital deployment capability and speed of execution for assets that fit our investment strategy. It also represents a strong start to our new JV with QuadReal.”

Jeremy Achkar, who is responsible for sourcing and executing UK transactions at Valor, added:

“The acquisition furthers our commitment to continued investment in London, and adds to our growing presence in the Eastern corridor of the Capital.”

Valor was advised by Stonehill Partners and Simmons & Simmons.