Global Net Lease (GNL), the U.S. REIT, is set to re-start an acquisition program in Europe.
The company, which at year-end 2017 had 51.1 percent of its overall property portfolio invested in Europe, has said that the time is right to consider acquiring new real estate on the continent. It has not made any new investments in Europe since the end of 2016.
Jim Nelson, the CEO of GNL, has said that he and his colleagues are “cautiously optimistic” about Europe’s real estate prospects. GNL is sending senior vice president, Brian Mansouri, to London to head up its acquisitions initiatives in Europe.
“I don’t prognosticate on markets, but from everything that we see, we view Europe as a robust market for the next few years,” says Nelson.
“A lot of Asian money is still going into Europe and demand from U.S. investors has been growing. That is positive and we believe the market still has a few years to run.”
Nelson also says that the threat of rising interest rates in Europe will only have a short-term detrimental effect on the market and that the diversity of real estate in Europe is a major attraction for its investors.
GNL is invested in European countries with the highest quality sovereign debt and currently owns properties in Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and the U.K. Some of its most high-profile tenants include FedEx, RWE Energy, ING, Finnair and Harper Collins. 59 percent of its portfolio is contained in the office sector, 31 percent in industrial/distribution and 10 percent in retail.
Nelson adds that GNL is open to exploring new locations in Europe. “We’re considering some other countries,” he says. “For example, we’re not in Spain or northern Italy, but we may be open to those areas in the near future. We’re taking a look at them and cap rates are getting better as those economies have become stronger.”
