Norway Oil Fund Enters $1 Billion Joint Venture

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Norway's government pension fund has purchased a 45 percent stake in a 12.8 million-square-foot industrial and logistics property portfolio in the U.S. from Prologis Inc. for $450 million. 

Prologis will keep a 55 percent share in the joint venture and will manage the portfolio on behalf of the partnership, according to a company statement. 

The portfolio includes 66 properties throughout eight states across nine markets, with the deal price valuing the portfolio at approximately $1 billion. 

There is no debt linked to the deal and no financing will be involved, the company said. 

"We are investing in a solid portfolio of logistics assets close to key transportation hubs," Karsten Kallevig, chief investment officer for real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management, said in the statement. 

The deal is expected to close in February 2014. The new partnership plans to add to the initial portfolio with more investments in the U.S.

Norway's oil fund, one of the world's largest investors, wants to establish itself as a major player in real estate, increasing the share of real estate investments to five percent of its total assets within a few years.    

So far, the fund has purchased in major cities like New York, Paris and London. In June, the fund purchased a £350 million portfolio of suburban warehouses in the U.K.   

The fund purchased a 47.5 percent stake in Boston's 46-story office tower One Financial Center, with 1.3 million rentable square feet, for a net price of $238 million, according to Reuters.