After selling its portfolio of listed funds to Patria Investimentos , RBR Asset launched a new fund in partnership with Itaú Asset to operate in logistics development.
The asset managers raised R$ 355 million for a fund focused on developing two logistics assets located up to 30 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. This operation represents the first fundraising for a real estate development fund by Itaú Asset, which manages R$ 1.2 trillion in assets.
“The logistics warehouse market has shown solid fundamentals and significant growth, which led us to launch a product in this specific segment,” says Tatyana Katalan, manager of real estate portfolios at Itaú Asset , to NeoFeed .
The fund, named Itaú RBR Desenvolvimento Logístico FII (ILOG11), raised capital exclusively from Itaú Private and institutional clients, and will have Itaú Asset and RBR as co-managers.
RBR has partnered with Itaú since 2019, distributing funds to the bank's private clients. According to Guilherme Bueno, founding partner and portfolio manager of the development and incorporation area at RBR Asset, over time a synergy has been perceived with the asset manager in real estate mandates.
“In the case of this fund, it came about because we and Itaú Asset were evaluating the assets in Guarulhos and realized that it wasn't worth competing; it was better to join forces,” says Bueno. With a global rate of 1.57% per year, ILOG11 projects a performance fee of 20% on returns exceeding the IPCA plus 7% per year.
The funds will be used to develop two logistics warehouses. One is a greenfield project in Guarulhos, with approximately 94,000 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA), near Guarulhos International Airport. The other is a warehouse retrofit in Tamboré, Alphaville, with approximately 52,000 square meters of GLA.
The investment comes at a time of high demand for logistics warehouses in the São Paulo metropolitan area, with vacancy rates at historically low levels and rents on the rise.
A CBRE study, published in August of last year , showed that, for the first time, the logistics warehouse market in São Paulo and the surrounding region is experiencing a consistent cycle of rising rental values. In 24 months, rents rose by up to 30% above the period's inflation rate, driven by increased occupancy.
“E-commerce has been growing significantly, but we see that, especially in Guarulhos, there is demand for various uses, from factories to retail, including those outside the mainstream,” says Bueno. “And the Tamboré property is very much a last-mile solution, suitable for the profile of large retailers.”
This fundraising is the first completed by RBR since the transfer of 12 funds to Patria, but the transaction with Itaú Asset was running in parallel. In addition, RBR closed a deal with EQI and BTG Pactual to raise approximately R$ 600 million in an infrastructure debenture fund.
ILOG11 is aligned with RBR's new phase. Currently managing R$4 billion in assets, the firm is focusing its operations on funds aimed at institutional and private investors, although the agreement with Patria does not impose restrictions should it wish to return to having listed funds.
According to Bueno, RBR emerged from the agreement with Patria with "more muscle" to advance in the development area, with plans to structure more funds for the purchase and development of assets, while simultaneously expanding strategies in real estate credit and funds of funds.
“In development, we have seven funds, and none of them went to Patria, which made the area proportionally larger. It's an area where we will continue to develop large funds with proprietary capital,” says Bueno.
