Panattoni expands its foothold in Europe. Having delivered in excess of 9,6 million square metres of industrial space, Panattoni is already established in Europe’s biggest logistics markets, including Germany, UK, Netherlands and Poland. The developer is also active in Czechia and Slovakia. And, as of February, it will establish a presence in Spain and Portugal, opening its offices in both Madrid and Barcelona – the main logistics centres of the Iberian Peninsula. A new team has been appointed for the task. It will be led by Gustavo Cardozo Lupi, Managing Director, who will be supported by Miguel Vera Cabrero as Director for Structured Finance.
Spain is the sixth largest warehouse market in Europe. It has 22.1 million square metres of existing warehouse space (as of Q3 2019), and the logistics market has at its disposal a road network in excess of 370,000 kilometres, including 15,500 km of motorways. Railway lines account for approx. 16,000 km, with 2,600 km of high-speed lines. Sea transport plays a prominent role in international trade. The logistics sector is growing very fast, stimulated not only by international transactions, but also the dynamic development of online trade. Spain’s e-commerce is estimated to exceed 25 billion euro (34 billion euro in B2C e-commerce turnover), and the sector is growing at the rate of more than 15% a year. Even today, 63 per cent of Spanish internet users shop online, stimulating additional demand for warehousing and distribution.
- “Spain and Portugal’s position in Europe, combined with its strong infrastructure and labour costs, makes it a very attractive market for logistics investments. Moreover, the country finds itself at the junction of the Mediterranean and Atlantic transport corridors, becoming a gateway not only to the European markets, but also those of Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East” – says Robert Dobrzycki, Chief Executive Officer Panattoni.
The Spain office will be the responsibility of Gustavo Cardozo Lupi who has been appointed Managing Director. He has a degree in Civil Engineering and more than twenty years’ experience in the real estate business. Since 2002, he has worked for Prologis, where he managed projects across Spain and rose through the ranks. For the past 13 years, he has served as Country Manager and Senior Vice President, leading a team of 11 specialists and a logistics assets portfolio in excess of 1,300,000 sqm worth more than EUR 980 million. Gustavo has also been involved in the acquisition of over 1 million square metres of land, and disposal of more than 500,000 sqm of assets. Prior to joining Prologis, he had worked as a Project Manager in Venezuela, USA and the Turks and Caicos Islands (BWI).
Miguel Vera Cabrero as Director for Structured Finance and Operations. Miguel has a degree in law and many years’ experience in structured finance, raising capital, financial modelling and monitoring transactions in the property market. Since March 2016, he has been the head of structured finance and treasury at OHL Developments, where he worked on housing, hospitality and office projects in Spain, Mexico and the United Kingdom. He was responsible, among other projects, for the refinancing deal of Hotel Fairmont in Mayakoba (Mexico) worth approx. USD 70 million, the acquisition of two top office buildings in Belgium or the acquisition and the renovation of Casa Vicens in Barcelona. Prior to that, he had been involved in GS Inima Environmental, Isolux Infrastructure, Banco Santander.
Source: Panattoni
