EQT Funds Cash In on Supply Chain With $9 Billion in Asset Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden’s EQT AB agreed to sell $9.1 billion of U.S. assets as it seizes on demand for logistics properties and becomes the latest alternative asset manager to cash in on high valuations with a large deal.

In two separate transactions, EQT funds sold 70 million square feet of warehouses and distribution centers across the nation and a majority stake in one of the biggest shipping container terminals at The Port of Los Angeles.

As asset values rally across public and private markets, alternative asset managers have been taking advantage by exiting some of their holdings. In the U.S., sales by private equity firms reached a record $638 billion this year through September, according to data compiled by Pitchbook.

And assets tied to the supply chain are of particular interest as demand picks up in the emergence of the global economy from the pandemic. Competition for logistics properties is intense amid the explosive growth of e-commerce and retailers’ aims to cut delivery times.

EQT Exeter is divesting a portfolio of 328 industrial logistics facilities for $6.8 billion, according to a statement Wednesday. EQT Infrastructure III fund is selling Fenix Marine Services Ltd. to CMA CGM SA, the third-largest global shipping line, for an enterprise value of $2.3 billion, according to a separate statement. 

The firm originally bought Fenix from Marseille-based CMA CGM in 2017 when it was worth $875 million. EQT invested more than $130 million on technology, new equipment such as cranes and reconfiguration of the terminal, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing a document sent to prospective suitors.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday the deal to sell Fenix.

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