New Austrian investor looks to logistics

Europolis Invest has led the interest from Vienna to Warsaw and, as well as acquiring significant office buildings such as Warsaw Towers and Saski Crescent in the capital, has also ventured into logistics. Early last year it acquired buildings D and E of the Alliance Logistics Center near Warsaw, and now other Austrian funds are following its example. At the end of February, it was announced that the Ghelamco-developed Cybernetyki Office Center and Bokserska Office & Distribution Park, in the Mokotów district of Warsaw, were to be acquired by the Akron Investment CEE Fund (AICEE), which is managed by the Austrian-based Akron Group. This was the first purchase of property the group had made in Poland and with zł.1.175 billion (€250 million) to spend in the Central European region over the next two years, warehouses in Poland are set to become a big target for Akron's money. Of the CEE Fund, Stefan Ausch, member of the executive board at Akron and CEO of AICEE, says: "Part of our fund strategy is to invest about 35 percent of the total investment volume into distribution and logistics." And of the fund's total, forty percent "at least," according to Ausch, will find its way into Polish real estate. Akron's first port of call in the region, however, was Hungary and it is currently developing a 120,000 square meter warehouse project there, which Ausch claims exemplifies Akron's "expertise in this field." Logistics, as the term suggests, is trickier than the office market and experience in the field is central to successful investment. Of the combined office-warehouse acquisition in Warsaw, Stefan Ausch remarks: "Though you need additional know-how for the logistics sector, in general in logistics you have slightly higher yields than in offices. If you combine both of these, you raise your yields and spread your risk." Unlike some funds from Germany or Austria, the setting up of a regional office in Poland is integral to Akron's strategy. One argument for not doing this is that you first have to send someone over to kick-start the operation, which means its 'local' character is compromised at the outset. Stefan Ausch, however, strongly disagrees: "You cannot run a Polish fund from Vienna. You need to be near your tenants, who are your biggest assets, and you have to be close to the market anyway." Whilst the Americans and Irish look to retail, the Austrians, it would seem, would like to take a rain check on that one. Of that sector, Ausch says: "Akrom won't generally invest in retail. We believe that you have to have the right experience and people for that market. Our strength is in logistics and offices." For now, Akrom is "doing its homework" and there will be no deals to announce in the near future. But we should expect a "second acquisition in the second half of this year," according to Stefan Ausch.