Gatehouse Bank completes third U.S. Industrial Real Estate Portfolio
Gatehouse Bank plc (“Gatehouse”), a Shariah compliant bank based in the City of London, has completed a third acquisition of a diverse industrial portfolio spreading across the United States of America. The portfolio is located across 14 states covering each geographic region of the United States and is 100% leased to 22 tenants covering a diverse range of industries with a weighted-average remaining lease term of 16 years.
The USD 147 million portfolio was acquired in partnership with the Brennan Investment Group (“BIG”). Shariah-compliant financing for this third portfolio acquisition was again provided by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Since June 2012, Brennan and Gatehouse have acquired three portfolios totaling 9.68 million square feet and 64 properties and now operate a nationwide portfolio concentrated in the Top [10] MSAs across the United States.
Mr Fahed Boodai, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gatehouse Bank, commented: “We are pleased to complete another major acquisition with Brennan Investment Group. Gatehouse seeks to partner with best-in-class operators such as Brennan with demonstrated expertise in specific real estate sectors. This venture will capitalize on Brennan’s expertise in U.S. industrial real estate to generate compelling risk-adjusted investment returns.”
The portfolio of assets is spread across each geographic region of the US. This model continues the ethic for diversification of risk, mitigating any issues posed by a downturn in any one particular market or sub-market.
Michael Brennan, Chairman and Managing Principal of the Brennan Investment Group added, "We are pleased to complete our third acquisition with Gatehouse. U.S. industrial markets continue to demonstrate improving fundamentals, with nearly every major market posting positive absorption and rising occupancies. The U.S. industrial market has now leased more space in the last 24 months than was shed in the recession. The acquisition of 25 critical use facilities, located in major markets, provides our investment a high degree of predictability both now and in the future.”
The portfolio includes a number of inherent features of U.S. industrial real estate that make the sector appealing for investment. It offers stability and predictability of cash flow, low operational risk, low on-going capital requirements, diversity of investment and a low risk of oversupply.
Gatehouse Bank specialises in originating, structuring and funding investments in a Shariah compliant manner. To meet continuing investor demand for high quality property investments, Gatehouse provides leading advice and opportunities to investors across a diverse range of properties ranging from offices to the student and logistics sectors. This is the seventh US-based real estate investment offering presented to the market by Gatehouse Bank, and brings its global real estate portfolio to c. USD 1.7 billion.
Gatehouse Bank was assisted by Arch Street Capital Advisors, a full-service real estate investment advisory firm, in this transaction.