A new pan-European real estate rm from industry veterans Arvi Luoma and Gordon DuGan is readying €1 bn of capital to target ‘business critical’ real estate assets across the region – despite a black swan interruption.
Launched on 3 March, Blackbrook focuses on single-tenant commercial real estate properties in a range of asset classes, backed by more than €1 bn in capital commitments from Connecticut-based Eldridge Industries.
Arvi Luoma, formerly of WP Carey, and Gordon DuGan, formerly of Gramercy Property Trust, have taken on the role of CEO and chairman respectively.
With a mandate to invest largely in strategic industrial assets, including logistics, light manufacturing, cold storage and similar properties used in the distribution and delivery of goods throughout Europe, the business case for Blackbrook has perhaps never been stronger – although its timing is not without drawbacks, Luoma admitted.
‘We kicked off at the start of March and were ready to meet people at Mipim,’ he said. ‘The timing was somewhat unfortunate – launching a business just before the world comes to a halt.’
‘But we have already put a team together, attracted significant capital, and are monitoring the market for deals,’ DuGan added. ‘It would be worse if we were already working with a portfolio that was exposed to more vulnerable sectors.’