KKR and Mirastar acquire eight UK logistics assets from Ares

KKR and Mirastar, KKR Real Estate's industrial and logistics platform in Europe, have acquired a 2.7-million-square-foot portfolio of eight UK logistics buildings from Ares Real Estate funds, a portfolio that published reports value at approximately £400 million, or $529 million. The buildings are fully occupied and sit across established distribution markets in the Midlands, the South East and the North of England, with Corby, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Milton Keynes among the locations. KKR and Mirastar said the assets benefit from strong connectivity to key population centres and transport infrastructure, and DTRE and DLA Piper advised the buyers.

Mai-Lan de Marcilly, who co-heads European real estate equity at KKR, attributed the acquisition to resilient occupier demand and constrained supply in key markets, describing a portfolio that pairs durable income with meaningful growth potential and the kind of opportunity KKR's diversified pools of capital are positioned to pursue. Because every building is let, the deal carries no lease-up phase to underwrite; the return turns on rent movement and eventual exit pricing.

The transaction follows KKR and Mirastar's late-July deal, announced as the acquisition of four prime UK logistics assets from PLP for approximately £170 million and totalling 1.25 million square feet. Side by side, on the reported numbers, the two come to roughly £570 million and 3.95 million square feet across twelve buildings, assembled in separate pieces rather than through a single platform purchase, which suggests the assets sit inside KKR's existing European industrial platform rather than arriving with an operating company attached. The coverage does not say what Ares paid for the eight buildings, or whether the sale is a gain.

Two figures invite a comparison. The Ares portfolio works out to about £148 a square foot against the reported £400 million valuation; the PLP trade implies nearer £136 at approximately £170 million for 1.25 million square feet. One is a valuation the coverage attributes to published reports and the other an announced acquisition price, so the gap between them is a hint rather than a read on pricing. The one number on the record as a price belongs to the smaller, earlier transaction, which makes the larger figure a thinner basis for marking the sector. The next sizeable UK logistics book to trade will test whether £148 a square foot is where the market clears.