Press Releases

Goldman Sachs Alternatives Invests in Arefim to Develop Logistics Campuses in France

2 October 2024 | 3 minute read

October 2, 2024 — Aréfim, a real estate company that creates next-generation logistics campuses, today announced a €120m investment from the Real Estate business within Goldman Sachs Alternatives. This investment will accelerate Aréfim's growth and support the development of logistics campuses throughout France. Aréfim, which became a mission-driven company in 2023 and a B Corp-certified company in 2024, manages 390,000 m² of real estate assets, with 700,000 m² under development.

The company is driven by its four values of co-construction, promoting high environmental standards, preserving biodiversity and ensuring wellbeing in the workplace.

The investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, a leading global investor in real estate, will accelerate Aréfim’s growth and support its ambition of becoming a key player in the French logistics market over the years ahead.

Valéry Fenès, Chairman of Aréfim, explains: “Goldman Sachs' acquisition of a stake in our company gives us the opportunity to plan our growth with confidence. It gives us the long-term backing needed to scale our operations and foster innovation.”

Edouard Sauer, Managing Director of Aréfim, adds: “This investment will enable us to deliver on our customers’ ambitious projects more quickly and accelerate the modernization of the sector, with strong ESG ambitions at the core of our philosophy. Our flagship Cosmetic Park asset is an example of the quality projects we aim to deliver.”

Ana Estrada, managing director in Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, said: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Arefim, which represents another step in our journey of creating high quality, energy efficient logistics assets across Spain, Italy and France, where we have already delivered six projects with BREEAM® Excellent, LEED® Gold and LEED® Platinum certifications.

We now look forward to working with Arefim in France to continue this journey, as we support the team in expanding the portfolio whilst jointly taking the company through its next growth phase.”

About Aréfim

Aréfim is a French real estate company that creates committed business campuses. Aréfim became a société à mission in 2023, then a B Corp certified company in 2024 (with an excellent score of 105). They specialize in the development of business campuses and innovative independent buildings.

In figures, Aréfim represents 390,000 m² of assets and 700,000 m² of buildings under development. They are a team of 13 people spread over 3 sites: head office in Strasbourg, decentralized technical and environmental teams in Avignon, and sales teams in Paris.

Their DNA is designed to change the face of logistics real estate. It is based on 4 pillars:

  • Co-construction: Creating a joint project in consultation with stakeholders: local authorities, residents and customers.
  • The environment: Integrating innovative and ambitious solutions into the building, going beyond certification. Their ambition is to reduce the carbon footprint of their buildings and work on brownfield sites.
  • Biodiversity: Preserving and improving biodiversity by integrating ecologists and landscapers upstream of the development of their campuses to validate a net gain in biodiversity and achieve Biodivercity® certification. This is coupled with awareness raising workshops to allow for complementary user interactions.
  • Well-being in the workplace, which concludes the 3 previous pillars: their service hubs (nurseries, restaurant, sports facilities, etc.) enable them to respond to a societal priority for companies: building employee loyalty. Their service hubs are also accessible to residents in the evenings and at weekends.

About Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Alternatives

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the leading investors in alternatives globally, with over $450 billion in assets and more than 30 years of experience. The business invests in the full spectrum of alternatives including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds and sustainability.

Clients access these solutions through direct strategies, customized partnerships, and open-architecture programs. The business is driven by a focus on partnership and shared success with its clients, seeking to deliver long-term investment performance drawing on its global network and deep expertise across industries and markets.

The alternative investments platform is part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which delivers investment and advisory services across public and private markets for the world’s leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals. Goldman Sachs has over $2.9 trillion in assets under supervision globally as of June 30, 2024.

Established in 1991, Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Alternatives is one of the leading investors in real estate with over $60 billion in capital invested since 2012 across the spectrum of investment strategies from core to opportunistic and credit. The global team invests across all sectors with deep expertise across the capital structure, in assets ranging from single properties to large portfolios, through senior mortgages, mezzanine debt and equity. Follow us on LinkedIn.

 

Media Contact
Joseph Stein
+44 207 774 4080