Amancio Ortega, Spanish billionaire and founder of Zara, has acquired a distribution centre mainly used by Amazon in Dublin for €225mn (£192mn), as his investment firm Pontegadea makes its first move into the logistics sector.
According to The Irish Times, Pontegadea bought the 1.2 million square foot industrial and logistics property in Dublin’s Baldonnell Business Park from property developer Mountpark. Around 630,000 square feet of the site is occupied by Amazon.
The Spanish investment firm had previously purchased a luxury residential building in Dublin with 120 apartments for rent for around €100mn. This followed the firm’s real estate arm completing a purchase of two Seattle office blocks leased to Amazon in 2019. It was the Spanish firm’s biggest deal in the United States at the time.
This is not the first time Amazon has looked to reduce its property portfolio. Earlier this year, there were reports that the ecommerce giant is looking to offload UK warehouses it is currently not using. The report suggested Amazon was reviewing its operations following a slow down in online shopping demand which has resulted in its worst annual loss on record.
Amazon had also announced it will close distribution centres in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock, in the west of Scotland, with 1,200 staff to be offered roles at other Amazon locations.
This followed news that 18,000 jobs will be cut this year across its global operation as it attempts to cope in the “uncertain economy”.
Read more about the changing demand for logistics centres in the DeliveryX Warehousing 2023 report. Download the full report for in-depth analysis as we explore how demand on space and labour has led to warehouses across the UK turning to automation, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to become as efficient, and as safe, as possible.
The report also includes an exclusive interview with UK Warehouse Association (UKWA), CEO, Clare Bottle about the UK’s warehousing landscape in 2023 and beyond.
We also interview D2C giant Wayfair’s, associate director UK warehousing Jurrien Heynen. In which he talks about the warehousing challenges when selling everything from toothbrush holders to sofa beds.
