Jones Lang LaSalle

ProLogis

ProLogis is starting a fund that will own warehouses around North America. The rapidly expanding industrial real-estate investment trust expects the fund to grow to around $4 billion.
The largest investor is GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd., the real-estate investment arm of Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which is investing $600 million. Other large investors, which ProLogis declined to identify, will supply the rest of the $1.5 billion in equity to the fund.

ProLogis will initially contribute about 77 buildings, valued at $763 million, to the fund. ProLogis will have a 20% equity interest in the fund.

The fund will be the largest ProLogis has ever raised. "This is a means to grow our business," says ProLogis Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey H. Schwartz.

The fund allows ProLogis, which is based in Denver, to generate a share of the rental revenue and property-management and asset-management fees without having to own 100% of the portfolio. Investors will receive a portion of the rent proceeds and will share in the appreciation of the properties' value over time.

ProLogis has been riding the wave of booming global trade, developing distribution warehouses in China, Japan, Europe and across the U.S.