Warehouse owner Griffin Industrial Realty has raised $27.2 million in equity to expand its footprint in the logistics sector.
In the first equity raise in the New York based company’s history, Griffin completed a private placement transaction with an entity managed by Cambiar Management.
It sold 504,590 shares and warrants for another 504,590 that could bring the company another $57.5 million.
As part of the transaction, a representative of Cambiar will join Griffin’s board of directors. Michael Gamzon, president and CEO, commented, “We are excited to have Cambiar as a valued partner as they share Griffin’s vision for growth and plans for shareholder value creation. We look forward to Cambiar’s contributions on our board of directors and feel confident that this investment brings Griffin another step closer to its long-term goals.”
In March 2020, as part of Griffin’s plan to accelerate growth and increase shareholder value, the company hired Gordon DuGan as chairman and announced its intention to convert to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) at the beginning of 2021.
DuGan is the former CEO of Gramercy Property Trust, an industrial REIT that was acquired by Blackstone in 2018 and, before that, was president and then CEO of WP Carey for 11 years.
He is leading Griffin’s strategy of investing in well-located, flexibly designed industrial/warehouse properties in high-growth, supply-constrained markets.
“The logistics sector continues to experience strong industry tailwinds due to the growth in e-commerce, optimization of supply chains and increased need for buffer inventories and redundancies,” said Gamzon.
“We are excited to accelerate our proven acquisition strategy and leverage our existing operating platform and development pipeline as we increase the size of our portfolio.”
The U.S. industrial market is one of the few bright spots in real estate right now.
The sector posted healthy second quarter numbers despite the global slowdown wrought by COVID-19 as it continues to benefit from a huge increase in online buying.
