The third fund of the ARETE Group focused on quality industrial and logistics assets in the region of Central and Eastern Europe completed in July the acquisition of a production and storage facility near Beroun, 20 km from Prague. This is the acquisition of a complex used for the production and storage of the Czech company Hronovský s.r.o., which was founded in 1990 and is one of the leaders in the field of cable assembly production, machining on CNC machines, pressing of plastic components and assembly of mechatronic components. The financial volume of the transaction exceeded almost EUR 10 million.
The Gefco branch in Cologne is now completely illuminated by modern, highly efficient LED technology. The investment of 5.5 million crowns was made by the company in two stages in 2019 and 2020. The exchange of technology was reflected in the year of the end of the investment, namely a 78% saving in energy consumption for lighting. The investment is part of Gefco's sustainability strategy. The next step should be the installation of solar panels in the storage areas of the Cologne branch.
The Central European area still has the potential to grow logistics. Gebrüder Weiss is convinced of this, which continues to develop its branch network in Central Europe. The company is expanding its logistics facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and plans to develop Home Delivery services in Hungary.
According to Colliers, CEE markets continue to feel some impact on transactional activity with flow volumes down ca. 22% year-on-year. Poland captured more than half of all invested capital in the first half of the year. Colliers estimates for 2021 that year-end volumes will remain between €10-11 billion.
The Panattoni Park Bratislava North logistics complex will be built on land with an area of 330,000 square meters near the village of Plavecký Štvrtok with a connection to the D2 motorway. The total amount of the investment will exceed the amount of 1.5 billion crowns. In the first phase, two modern halls with a number of sustainable elements with an area of 12,000 and 6,000 square meters will be built in the area. Both halls, in the highest production and logistics standard, will aim for a high evaluation of the international environmental certification Breeam New Construction.
The coronavirus pandemic significantly increased demand
"The coronavirus pandemic has significantly increased the demand for logistics centers, so BHS Real Estate Fund has decided to enter this dynamically developing part of the real estate market," says Pavel Borovička, CEO of BHS REF.
"I am glad that for the third Panattoni project in Slovakia we got this location where the long-term potential was presented in the past, but there was no investor and builder of industrial real estate to fully discover and develop it," says Erik Ivaničko, director of the Slovak branch Panattoni.
The establishment of the Panattoni Park Bratislava North complex will increase supply capacities, which will significantly increase the efficiency of the operation of commercial and industrial enterprises in the vicinity of Bratislava. In addition, the expansion of companies into the desired region will be supported, which is currently tight due to limited logistics capacities. The park will bring benefits for the region, self-government but also for citizens. In addition to supply chain development, the new park will also help develop e-commerce.
Increasing portfolio diversification
"The start of cooperation with the investment fund BHS Real Estate Fund confirms the growing interest of investors in quality logistics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The industrial real estate segment offers investors a very interesting return-to-risk ratio in the long term, with the demand for these types of transactions increasing in the last few years, ”says Karel Klečka, Panattoni's Capital Markets Director for Europe.
"BHS Real Estate Fund has so far focused mainly on investments in modern offices. BHS Real Estate Fund, in cooperation with Panattoni, will build a new logistics park near Bratislava. The project called Panattoni Park Bratislava North responds to the high demand for warehouse space, which will have excellent transport services for Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. buildings in the Czech Republic. Thanks to the new Panattoni Park Bratislava North project, the diversification of our existing portfolio will increase, which will bring many benefits to our clients, ”says Zdeněk Lepka, CEO of real estate companies BHS REF.
BHS Real Estate Fund SICAV, a.s. is a fund of qualified investors, established by the securities trader BH Securities a.s. according to Czech law and administered by the investment company AMISTA. Investors have the opportunity to enhance their resources in the Fund through investments in commercial real estate.
The total area of modern industrial premises intended for rent in the Czech Republic increased to 9.28 million m2 in the second quarter of 2021. A total of 113,200 m2 of warehouse space in 11 industrial parks was completed in the Czech Republic. Compared to the same period of the previous year, this is a 46% decrease and a quarterly increase of 66%. At the time of its completion, approximately 89% of the projects had already been leased.
The VoloDrone cargo drone successfully passed the first stress test in simulated operation at its presentation at the International Aviation Conference in Berlin. DB Schenker and Volocopter have been working on its commissioning together with the Fraunhofer Institute since 2019, and this year the first operational plan was created. The drone will make it possible to transport cargo to hard-to-reach places and offer customers fast and emission-free transport.
The Arete Investment and Real Estate Group signed an agreement with Raiffeisenbank to draw a €30 million umbrella credit line. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of the Arete Industrial SICAV fund's portfolio through prepared acquisitions and new construction of industrial real estate while maintaining a safe and conservative LTV ratio.
