London – 20 July 2021 – UK-based real estate investment firm, CRE Group has successfully sold its K-Flex asset in Lodz, Poland to Accolade Group. The asset is leased on a long-term contract to L'Isolante K-Flex SpA (K-Flex), a global leader in the production of thermal and acoustic elastomeric insulation materials. K-Flex has a turnover of around €500m p.a. and the asset in Lodz is of strategic importance to the tenant.
Thomas Reckers, a portfolio manager at CRE commented, “The successful sale demonstrates that during uncertain economic times like those caused by the Covid pandemic, demand for key industrial properties with high-quality tenants remains strong.”
In 2014, the first phase of the build-to-suit asset was developed by CRE's Preservation & Income Fund 1 in a joint venture with leading European real estate developer, Panattoni. As K-Flex continued to expand, the second phase of the asset was completed by CRE in 2017 and further production capacity was shifted from other European locations to Poland, underscoring the facility’s importance to the tenant.
"We are living in a time of high demand for modern business infrastructure. This trend is represented by companies like K-Flex. I am really happy as this acquisition adds such a strong tenant to our portfolio which strengthens our position on the Polish market. It has been truly a pleasure to work on this acquisition with CRE’s team and we are certain that there will be continued cooperation." says Lukas Repal, COO Accolade.
The first CRE Preservation & Income fund (CPI 1) continued to pay investors 8% a year throughout the recent pandemic, reflecting the importance of the underlying real estate assets to the tenants. With the sale now complete, investors in CPI 1 are expected to roll over the proceeds into CPI 2, thereby continuing to receive distributions from strategic, mission critical European industrial/logistics assets as CRE continues to focus on corporate net lease investments.
CRE Group was advised by JLL (investment advisory), PWC (tax & legal), Gleeds (technical) and KR Group (accounting).
Editor’s note: CRE Group is a boutique real estate investment management firm with c$500m in assets under management, a team of 15, and investments in real estate markets around the world.
