MFC Manulife Financial Corporation

BOSTON, Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife Investment Management has announced a $1.2 billion partnership with Scannell Properties and StepStone Real Estate, facilitating the recapitalization of 35 newly constructed Class A industrial assets spanning 10.4 million square feet across 17 markets within the United States.

"We're pleased to partner with Scannell Properties given their extensive expertise as an industrial developer and their reliability and delivery of high-quality industrial assets," said Marc Feliciano, Global Head of Real Estate for Manulife Investment Management. "This venture represents a key differentiator of the real estate business at Manulife Investment Management – the ability to work with partners to find solutions and create value in challenging environments on behalf of our clients."

Manulife Investment Management's real estate platform provides investment solutions globally as part of its comprehensive private markets' capabilities. Its sustainably operated platform offers core, core-plus, value-add, and opportunistic strategies spanning over 74.7 million square feet of office, industrial, retail, and multifamily assets strategically across Canada, the U.S., and Asia Pacific. The real estate investment team leverages its global platform and regional market knowledge to identify opportunities and drive results for its investment clients. 

"We are delighted to work with StepStone as a strategic partner, and their experience in GP-led transactions played an important role in consummating this exciting venture," said Feliciano.

"This investment highlights StepStone's strength as a provider of strategic capital to institutional managers and operators" said Jeff Giller, Head of StepStone Real Estate. "We're delighted to partner with Manulife Investment Management on this significant Class A industrial portfolio recapitalization."

"Fundamentals within the industrial sector remain strong; we see this investment as an important opportunity to capitalize on the current market environment and access a portfolio of assets well-positioned to capture the robust long-term demand for logistics, especially as companies revisit supply chain needs and advancement in automation," said Jessica Harrison, Head of U.S. Acquisitions & Capital Markets, Real Estate, Manulife Investment Management. "Our team will work closely with Scannell to further create value and execute the business plan of the portfolio, which is to complete construction, lease-up of the remaining vacancy, and execute financing and disposition strategies upon stabilization."

Scannell Properties has deep expertise in the development of build-to-suit and speculative industrial assets across the US, Canada, and Europe. In 2018, Scannell expanded into Europe, with offices in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K and has 10 offices globally. Since inception in 1990, Scannell Properties has completed over 530 development projects totaling 150 million square feet. Scannell's clients include some of the world's largest life sciences, manufacturing, and e-commerce companies.

"We welcome the partnership with Manulife Investment Management a highly distinguished investment partner. This significant investment in our portfolio is a clear indication of our strength, stability, and leadership in industrial development," said Bob Scannell, President and Founder, Scannell Properties.

Additional information about Manulife Investment Management's real estate capabilities can be found at manulifeim.com/institutional.

Additional information about Scannell Properties can be found at scannellproperties.com.

Manulife Investment Management is the brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. Our mission is to make decisions easier and lives better by empowering investors for a better tomorrow. Serving more than 17 million individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members, we believe our global reach, complementary businesses, and the strength of our parent company position us to help investors capitalize on today's emerging global trends. We provide our clients access to public and private investment solutions across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, alternative, and sustainability-linked strategies, such as natural capital, to help them make more informed financial decisions and achieve their investment objectives. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

Scannell Properties is a privately held real estate development and investment company that focuses on build-to-suit and speculative development of industrial, office, and multifamily facilities throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.  Since inception in 1990, Scannell Properties has completed over 530 development projects totaling 150 million SF.  The annual development volume is estimated at $5 billion.  For additional information, please visit scannellproperties.com.

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SOURCE Manulife Investment Management