NEWS

Prologis Inc., the world’s largest owner of industrial real estate, and Norway’s $890 billion sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy KTR Capital Partners for $5.9 billion to expand in key U.S. markets.

KTR owns about 70 million square feet of real estate in 25 markets, concentrated in California, New Jersey, Chicago, South Florida and Texas, according to its website. The company is led by Jeffrey Kelter, the former CEO of Keystone Property Trust. Keystone was acquired by a group including Prologis in 2004 for about $1.7 billion.

Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway’s wealth fund, made its first industrial property purchase in 2012 with the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in a European property portfolio from Prologis. The fund became among the top foreign buyers of real estate in the U.S. last year, buying stakes in properties including three towers from Boston Properties Inc.

The fund is seeking to grow its real estate holdings to 5 percent of its total portfolio, from about 2 percent currently, in an effort to boost returns. The fund also owns office and retail properties in cities including Paris, London and New York and will soon make its first investment in Asia.

U.S. industrial real estate prices climbed 17 percent in the 12 months through February and are within 2 percent of their 2007 peak, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Moghadam said on the company’s October earnings conference call that the transaction market is “very competitive” with “significant capital” chasing top-quality buildings.