Northleaf buys 90% stake in Belgium’s Douglas liquid storage terminal

Funds managed by private equity firm Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf) have acquired a 90% stake in Douglas Terminals from Hartree and Ghent Transport & Storage (GTS).

The remaining 10% in the terminal will be retained with GTS.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Located in the Port of Ghent, Belgium, Douglas Terminals is a 557,000m³ liquid bulk storage terminal.

It comprises 17 tanks with a capacity to store jet fuel, gas, oil, diesel and biodiesel.

Northleaf managing director Roderick Gadsby said: “Direct investments in high-quality bulk liquid storage assets are consistent with Northleaf’s strategy and offer our investors significant potential for stable, long-term returns.

Roderick added that these investments would strengthen and diversify Northleaf’s portfolio of bulk liquid storage assets, which currently include investments in the US, UK, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.

Liquid storage terminal operations by Hartree and GTS began in 2017. Under a management services agreement, GTS will operate the Douglas Terminals.

Under the transaction, all the entities involved in the deal have agreed to jointly develop Max Terminals, a new liquid storage terminal to be located adjacent to the Douglas Terminals site.

Hartree director Heiko Voelker said: “We look forward to partnering with Northleaf on the development of Max Terminals in the future.”

Until now, Northleaf has invested around $13bn in private equity, private credit and infrastructure commitments.

Engaged in globally evaluating and managing private markets investments, it has offices in Toronto, Montreal, London, New York, Menlo Park, Melbourne and Chicago.