American investment firm AEW is planning a €475m raid on logistics and light industrial targets across mainland Europe as the race to build warehouse space intensifies.

The Boston-based company has accumulated assets in Europe worth €32bn and now has it sights set on filling the demand in major metropolitan areas of France, Germany and the Netherlands where demand is outstripping supply.

A number of major European banks have helped AEW raise their start-up equity and its ‘ULLIS’ strategy is to establish an initial portfolio worth €800m.

Rémy Vertupier, Co-Head of Institutional Fund Management, Separate Accounts & Club Deals at AEW, said: “The pace of change is accelerating, fuelled by the impact of new technologies, and market demand for industrial space within dense urban areas is growing.

“Considering the high occupancy levels across existing stock and restricted new supply, we decided to launch ULLIS with a strategy mainly focused on the development of small to large urban projects through the conversion of obsolete outdated buildings and the regeneration of brownfield land into new, high-quality light industrial and logistics facilities.”

AEW’s existing logistics portfolio is valued at €4bn and is spread across nine European countries, including the UK.