Aberdeen Standard raises £187.5m for a fund focused on warehouses

Just as the online Christmas shopping boom builds to a crescendo, Aberdeen Standard Investments has swooped in on the trend raising £187.5m for its warehouse fund.

In a London stock market float yesterday – the firm’s first since Aberdeen Asset Management merged with Standard Life earlier this year – the European Logistics Income fund pulled in £187.5m from investors.

The listed investment trust plans to tap into the growth of e-commerce, investing in “ultra-modern” warehouses and local “last mile” distribution centres across Europe.

“Our discussions with a broad range of investors had led us to believe that long term exposure to income-generating logistics assets across Europe within a closed-end structure would have wide appeal,” said Aberdeen’s co-chief Martin Gilbert.

“This has proven to be the case with pension funds, multi-asset managers, wealth managers and retail investors subscribing to the issue.”

Occupier demand is strengthening for these types of warehouses, and typically they benefit from long-term continuous leases which are linked to inflation. This means they provide solid rental income alongside the potential for capital growth.

Aberdeen’s fund aims to deliver a distribution yield of 5.5 per cent in euro terms, predominantly in the form of dividends, and a total return of 7.5 per cent per year.

The £187.5m, along with some “modest” leverage, should be fully invested within a year according to Aberdeen.

“In the UK, e-commerce has grown rapidly and significantly in recent years. Europe is growing too but from a lower base, and the pace is set to increase,” said Aberdeen’s global co-head of real estate Pertti Vanhanen.

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