Amancio Ortega has steered real estate investments in the past eighteen months toward logistics centers in the United States and Europe. Is this a temporary trend or a deliberate strategy to diversify an investment portfolio? Time will tell. Figures show that almost two-thirds of the company’s 2.8 billion dollar投入 since July 2022 has gone into distribution centers. In plain terms, thirteen of the twenty-two most recent acquisitions are logistics warehouses with solid tenants and long-term leases. The common threads include five with Amazon, two with Home Depot, and one each with FedEx or Nestlé. Overall, the group now owns more than a million square feet in this sector, a footprint it did not have just a year and a half ago. This shift marks a notable pivot in asset allocation and risk exposure for Pontegadea, Amancio Ortega’s investment arm.
Why has this market entry happened now, after more than 150 deals completed over the last two decades without touching logistics? Several explanations emerge from sources consulted. First, real estate prices have topped the charts. Investing in Spain has become largely unattainable, leading to a long pause in domestic acquisitions. As a result, purchases have predominantly occurred in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
The second reason relates to financing. Competitors struggle to secure favorable funding due to elevated borrowing costs, a factor that has reduced deal volumes by more than half across the United States and Europe over the past year. Pontegadea, however, maintains a debt-free posture similar to Inditex and does not rely on external leverage to make acquisitions. In 2022, the group received 1.718 billion in dividends from its stake in Inditex, and by 2023 the workforce was 2,217 employees. Projections for this year suggest a staff exceed 2,500. The mandate for Pontegadea is to deploy capital swiftly to keep creating value. In 2022 the firm spent a record 2.783 billion across thirteen transactions, a pace that moderated in the following year to eleven deals involving 1,335 people.
Pontegadea’s CEO Roberto Cibeira outlined in a recent Financial Times interview that price adjustments have touched every European asset class in recent months. He stated that this moment is favorable for investors with low debt as credit conditions tighten, reducing competition for sizable acquisitions. He also noted that assets were offered through bilateral processes and, in many cases, outside the market, particularly in the logistics, retail, office, and infrastructure sectors. These remarks come amid a broader reassessment of asset pricing and capital availability across Europe.
The third rationale offered by experts for this strategic shift is the desire to diversify holdings. Historically, the majority of the more than 100 Pontegadea assets were leased office buildings. Now about 10 percent are already logistics platforms, signaling a meaningful tilt toward this sector while maintaining a broad portfolio that still leans heavily on office space.