Private Equity hurry to build up stakes in European Freight & Transport Hubs

A US private equity firm has pounced on the remains of a warehouse property company that failed to float on the London stock market.

TPG Capital has struck a deal to buy most of the portfolio managed by PointPark Properties, known as P3.

PointPark’s owner, the collapsed Bahraini bank Arcapita, tried to raise £250m through a listing last year under which Ian Coull, former boss of the warehouse developer Segro, would have become chairman. It was forced to pull the float after fund managers balked at the price demanded by Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, which led the roadshow.

The deal comes amid mounting interest in European freight and transport hubs, driven by the rise of internet shopping and hopes of economic recovery. Blackstone, another US private equity giant, has assembled a warehouse empire, while Canadian and Norwegian sovereign funds have set up alliances with existing operators.