BAHRAIN — Investcorp, a leading global provider and manager of alternative investment products announced that it had sold a portfolio of industrial real estate properties located in the Boston and Chicago metropolitan areas in two separate transactions for a combined total of more than $200 million. Investcorp acquired the properties comprising the approximate 1.8 million square foot portfolio of industrial, warehouse and distribution real estate in 2017 and completed a number of value-enhancing initiatives, including increasing overall occupancy of the portfolio to 98% at the time of exit. Timothy Mattar, global head of distribution at Investcorp said, “This sale represents another example of our leading real estate team identifying attractive assets that are supported by long-term and resilient trends, such as the ongoing growth of e-commerce. We are pleased with the result of this exit and our team’s ability to generate strong returns amidst a challenging environment.” The Boston-based properties comprised a warehouse, distribution and flex real estate portfolio totaling approximately 1.1 million square feet. The three individual cold storage Chicago properties were located in close proximity to downtown Chicago and comprised approximately 700,000 square feet, which were used primarily for the storage and distribution of frozen food products. Babak Sultani, managing director and real estate product specialist at Investcorp said, “This transaction is a testament to our team’s ability to deliver value amidst a challenging environment. Industrial, warehouse and logistics real estate assets are essential for driving e-commerce and supporting supply chains, which is why we increased our focus on this area several years ago. “We remain focused on continuing to identify resilient investment opportunities that are supported by long-term trends such as e-commerce-driven industrial real estate.” For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2019, Investcorp ranked as the second largest international buyer and fourth largest international seller of US real estate, according to Real Capital Analytics. Investcorp currently owns approximately 230 industrial properties across the US totaling approximately 19 million square feet. — SG