Australian pension fund manager Aware Super is set to acquire a 49% stake in a new partnership with infrastructure provider Goodman Group to invest in a $1.3B U.S. industrial platform.
The venture is backed by three properties in Los Angeles’ key logistics corridors and infill markets, Aware Super said in a press release. Its three initial assets span about 2.8M SF on 187.3 acres, with tenants including Amazon, Maersk and Relativity Space.
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Alek Misev, head of property at Aware Super, said the partnership is targeting undersupplied infill locations where it is difficult to build new supply.
"Despite recent market uncertainty, we remain confident in the strong long-term fundamentals of the U.S. industrial sector, with Los Angeles benefiting from limited supply and robust consumption patterns," Misev said in a release.
Goodman will have a 51% stake in the partnership and provide asset and property management services. The companies didn't disclose their individual financial contributions to the new venture.
The move marks a sizable U.S. commercial real estate expansion for Aware Super, which previously only had American exposure through a residential joint venture formed in 2020 with Lendlease, PERE reported.
Misev told the outlet in September that the fund was looking for a new joint venture partner to invest in infill industrial properties in coastal U.S. markets and another one to invest in U.S. multifamily.
"When it makes up 40% of the market, you can’t ignore the U.S.," Misev told PERE.
Assets in the U.S. and Canada make up 13% of Aware Super's global property holdings, while Australia accounts for 65% and the UK and continental Europe account for 20%, Reuters reported. Industrial properties lead the fund's exposure at 32%, while residential properties account for 30% and office properties make up 17%.
Anjana Moran, Aware Super senior portfolio manager, told Reuters that the fund had to work through the fallout of tariff implementations before making the deal.
"There were announcements around tariffs and when we were thinking about logistics assets and potential exposure to the trade risk, that obviously gave us pause and we needed to do more work to get comfortable, and we were able to do that," Moran said.
