Paris, France: A decade of patient asset management near Charles de Gaulle Airport has just delivered its payoff. Manova Partners has sold a fully let, 13,000 m² cross-dock logistics asset in Gonesse to an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) in an off-market transaction, closing out roughly ten years of ownership in the Val-d'Oise department of the Greater Paris region.
The asset sits at a genuinely strategic transport hub, close to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and connected directly to the A1 and A3, two of the region's key arterial routes. Manova recently renewed the lease with its long-standing occupier before the sale, a deliberate move to lock in income security ahead of a disposal. "The transaction demonstrates continued investor demand for well-located logistics assets with solid fundamentals and reversionary potential. We have actively managed the property over many years and further strengthened its long-term income security through the recent lease renewal," said Julia de Bonnefon, Head of Transactions France, Belgium and Luxembourg at Manova Partners.
What deserves closer attention from investors is the off-market nature of this deal rather than the asset alone. In a logistics market where headline auction processes and competitive bidding have become the norm for prime assets, Manova and MSREI instead negotiated directly, a route that typically signals either a pre-existing relationship between counterparties or a seller prioritising certainty of execution over price discovery through open marketing. For owners of similar cross-dock assets near major European airports and motorway interchanges, this transaction is a reminder that off-market disposals remain a viable, and sometimes preferable, route for well-let logistics real estate with clear reversionary potential, particularly where a recent lease renewal has already done the work of de-risking the income profile.
The asset was held throughout by Manova's asset management team, led by Dimitri Maillard, Head of Asset Management Western and Southern Europe, with Tom Villate as lead asset manager. JLL and Fire AM advised the buyer on the transaction, while Osborne Clarke acted as legal adviser to Manova Partners and Clifford Chance advised the buyer. Wargny Katz acted as notary.
Manova Partners is an international real estate investment manager with approximately €10.4bn in assets under management across 175 properties in Europe, Australia, North and South America. Founded in 2000 as GLL Real Estate Partners and part of Australia's Macquarie Group from 2018 to 2024, the company has operated under its current name since December 2024, headquartered in Munich and wholly owned by its employees, with around 160 real estate professionals across 18 regional offices.
People mentioned
- Julia de Bonnefon, Head of Transactions France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Manova Partners
- Dimitri Maillard, Head of Asset Management Western and Southern Europe, Manova Partners
- Tom Villate, Lead Asset Manager, Manova Partners
Image credit: Manova Partners
Companies and organisations mentioned
- Manova Partners, international real estate investment manager and seller of the Gonesse asset
- Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, fund manager acquiring the asset
- JLL, advisor to the buyer
- Fire AM, advisor to the buyer
- Osborne Clarke, legal adviser to Manova Partners
- Clifford Chance, legal adviser to the buyer
- Wargny Katz, notary on the transaction
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