Arbah Capital further invests in the U.S. with acquisition of industrial portfolio with BIG

CHICAGO, September 22, 2020 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged a Shariah-compliant joint venture equity partnership and $22.9 million in debt financing for the acquisition of a five-property industrial portfolio with more than 557,000 square feet of light industrial and flex space in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa.

JLL worked on behalf of Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group (BIG) to arrange the joint venture partnership with Saudi Arabia-based Arbah Capital. Additionally, working on behalf of the new partnership, JLL placed a five-year, floating-rate loan with Wintrust Bank.

The portfolio comprises two facilities in the Grand Rapids MSA, 5460 Executive Pkwy. in Grand Rapids and 1865 Industrial Dr. in Grand Haven, Michigan. Additionally, the 7550 49th Ave. in New Hope (Minneapolis MSA), Minnesota; 4050 Ryan Rd. in Gurnee (Chicago MSA), Illinois; and 1100 E. LeClaire Rd. in Eldridge (Iowa City-Cedar Rapids MSA), Iowa, round out the portfolio. Home to a diverse mix of tenants in the automotive, manufacturing and telecommunications industry, the 97.5 percent-leased portfolio has a weighted average lease term of 5.4 years. Four of the facilities are single-tenant assets.

“It has been a pleasure to work with JLL and BIG on this transaction, which posed a number of challenges in this environment,” said Mahmood Y. Al-Kooheji, CEO of Arbah Capital. “We were very impressed with the professionalism and pragmatism of our partners to get this deal over the line. Arbah looks forward to building on our relationships for more success in the future.” 

“Brennan Investment Group appreciates JLL’s efforts in introducing both equity and debt partners to this transaction and looks forward to growing a strong business relationship with Arbah Capital in the coming years,” added Scott McKibben, CIO of Brennan Investment Group.

The JLL Capital Markets team that arranged the joint venture equity partnership and financing was led by Senior Director Claudio V. Sgobba out of JLL’s London office and Managing Director Christopher Carroll in JLL’s Chicago office, along with Senior Managing Director David Berglund, Managing Director Matthew Schoenfeldt and Senior Director Doug Childers.

“It is always a rewarding result bringing a new equity relationship to Brennan Investment Group and exporting a strategic Gulf Cooperation Council client to the U.S.,” Sgobba said. “We are confident that BIG and Arbah are an outstanding fit together and will have a longstanding, go-forward partnership. It was a pleasure working alongside Waseef Asghar, Arbah Capital’s Investment Director; and Mahmood Y. Al-Kooheji; and Scott McKibben.”

“Wintrust Bank is very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such experienced ownership and is delighted to provide capital support for Brennan Investment Group, Arbah Capital and the JLL teams for a well-leased, stabilized, industrial building portfolio,” added Nicholas M. Cannon, Group Senior Vice President with Wintrust.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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