MetLife Provides $314M in Financing for Mexico Industrial Portfolio
By Cathy Cunningham September 19, 2019 5:25 pm
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Advance Real Estate has locked down $314 million in financing for the acquisition and recapitalization of a Mexico industrial portfolio, Commercial Observer has learned.
MetLife provided the seven-year, fixed-rate, interest-only, non-recourse debt in a transaction arranged by CBRE (CBRE)’s James Millon, Tom Traynor, Scott Lewis and PJ Finley.
The financing has a loan-to-value of 52 percent, sources said, and provides prepayment flexibility for property substitutions, future development and asset sales.
Advance Real Estate, headquartered in Querétaro, develops, leases, owns and manages Class A industrial real estate in the Central, Bajio and north regions of Mexico. The firm is focused on growing its presence in the country, and on developing built-to-suit properties and spec buildings in key markets, as well as completing strategic acquisitions.
The newly acquired portfolio comprises 57 Class A industrial assets, spanning numerous markets including Querétaro, Mexico City, Silao, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and Toluca. There were multiple sellers in the deal; the sellers’ identities were not disclosed.
Approximately 90 percent of the portfolio’s leases are U.S.-dollar-denominated.
“The industrial sector in Mexico is strong, with record low vacancies, dollar denominated rents and significant demand for institutional assets from local and international firms,” Robert Merck, the global head of real estate and agriculture at MetLife Investment Management, said in prepared remarks. “The 57 industrial property portfolio is composed of 100-plus tenants, widely diversified among business sectors and catering to local and international markets.”
The transaction was MetLife’s first with Advance. “Advance is focused on Class A industrial buildings in strong markets,” Merck said. “The sponsor sought a long-term business relationship with a strong lender to continue growing their business.”
The trade comes hot on the heels of some high-profile industrial portfolio trades. Earlier this month, New York Life Real Estate Investors lent $450 million on Blackstone Group’s purchase of a 5.4-million-square-foot industrial portfolio from TA Realty, as reported by Commercial Property Executive. The CBRE team also negotiated the debt in that instance. And at the beginning of September Broadstone Net Lease acquired a portfolio of 23 industrial and office assets located in the U.S. and Canada for roughly $735 million.
CBRE officials declined to comment. Advance Real Estate officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
