PSP Investments and Ares Management have formed a joint venture to invest up to US$2.4B in U.S. logistics real estate, launching the partnership with a 5.2M SF portfolio across major industrial markets.

The seed portfolio includes 14 properties in California, Texas and New Jersey, while Ares’ Marq Logistics platform will source investments and manage the assets.

The deal represents another major allocation to U.S. industrial real estate by Montreal-based PSP, which manages C$320.6B on behalf of federal public-sector pension plans.

Laurence Bastien, managing director of real estate investments, Americas at PSP, said the pension investor is targeting operators and sectors where it has its strongest conviction.

“The U.S. logistics sector benefits from durable demand drivers and structurally constrained supply in the submarkets that matter most,” Bastien said.

Ares said the venture will focus on cash-flowing assets in high-growth markets, pointing to onshoring, digital infrastructure investment and e-commerce as drivers of logistics demand.

Marq Logistics manages more than 2,250 properties totalling over 655M SF globally.

The partners did not disclose the value of the initial 14-property portfolio, their respective ownership interests or how much capital each will contribute toward the US$2.4B investment capacity.

Dave Fazekas, head of North America logistics at Ares Real Estate, said the partnership will use the firms’ combined scale to identify additional investment opportunities across the U.S.