AFFINE RE Paris, 2 July 2015, 6:00 pm
Affine and Kaufman & Broad partner to support the development of Urbismart,
specialising in the organisation of urban logistic flows
The growth of cities, combined with the expansion of e-commerce in the coming years, demands the implementation of innovative solutions to provide a better response to the demands of retail systems and consumers, as well as environmental requirements and the expectations of elected officials.
In a context in which logistics are becoming increasingly complex and represent approximately 10% of the revenues of French companies, real time is forcing the players to optimise and transform the logistics market.
To support innovation on the problems of the logistics of tomorrow, Affine has contributed to the launch of Urbismart, a company specialising in the organisation of urban logistics flows. The shareholding is strengthened with the arrival of Kaufman & Broad. These two major players in the tertiary real estate business and urban housing market, will each hold 17% of the capital of the start-up. The balance is held by the four project founders.
Today, Urbismart works with a large number of different operators in the logistics chain, but is focused primarily on the loaders, with the promise of lowering their total logistics bill while simultaneously reducing CO2 emissions.
In early September, Urbismart will launch its testing phase in Bordeaux. By 2018, Urbismart's objective is to unite
35 brands in 45 cities in this project, with 50 to 100 metropolitan platforms to be developed over time.
'We are convinced that the Urbismart solution can be a response to the problem of the final delivery mile while meeting the expectations and concerns of cities about pollution and traffic. This approach is perfectly in line with our goals for the urban problems of tomorrow, and expands our offer even further,' adds Nordine Hachemi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kaufman & Broad.
'Serving urban tertiary property assets, both offices and stores, will become a major component in the creation of value for the properties of real estate companies. So it was natural that Affine, whose portfolio includes offices, retail premises and warehouses, is interested, from its founding, in the potential of Urbismart to optimise urban logistics. We are pleased that the partnership developed with Kaufman & Broad via Concerto European Developer has found a new application with Urbismart,' says Affine Chairman-CEO Maryse Aulagnon.
ABOUTURBISMART
Founded in 2013 by Thierry Bruneau, Jean-Paul Rival (executives of Concerto European Developer, an Affine subsidiary at the time), Michel Rascol (CEO of 4PL Intologistics) and Pierre Orsatelli (Consultant), Urbismart intends to rethink global logistics in order to optimise the 'last mile of delivery' using an economically durable approach. The objective of this logistics and operational innovation is to reorganise urban logistics flows on the basis of the simple principle of 'one truck, one street' for any type of delivery. To do this, it is necessary to work at the entry and exit points of the supply chain, relying on pooling and cross-channels in order to increase volume effects. This approach focuses on new metropolitan regional platforms based on the rationale of advanced pooling and an organisation by type of delivery location.
The Urbismart solution intends to be the most complete possible, also offering services such as management of returns and unsold articles, collection of packaging waste, or even the possibility of relying on the stores of partner brands as temporary relay points. The technological innovation is built on a foundation of dynamic optimisation, which allows tasks to be planned and ordered, taking into account rules, transport order requirements and real time contingencies, without forecasts of volumes.
To learn more:www.urbismart.fr
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ABOUTAFFINEGROUP
Affine is a real estate company specialised in commercial property. At the end of December 2014, it directly owned 57 buildings with a total value of €575m (excluding taxes), for a total floor area of 534,400 sqm. The firm owns office properties (53 %), retail properties (22 %) and warehouses and industrial premises (26 %). Its activity is distributed more or less equally between Ile-de France and the other French regions.
Affine is also the major shareholder (49.5%) of Banimmo, a Belgian property repositioning company with operations in Belgium and France. At the end of December 2014, Banimmo had total assets of 20 office and commercial buildings, with a value of €335m (taxes included).
Total Group assets are €945m (including transfer taxes).
In 2003, Affine opted for French real estate investment trust (SIIC) status. The Affine share is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (Ticker: IML FP/BTTP.PA; ISIN code: FR0000036105) and admitted to the deferred settlement system (long only). It is included in the CAC Mid&Small, SIIC IEIF and EPRA indexes. Banimmo is also listed on NYSE Euronext.
To find out more:www.affine.fr.Follow our news thread on: https://twitter.com/Groupe_Affine
CONTACT
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Frank Lutz
+33 (0)1 44 90 43 53 -frank.lutz@affine.fr
PRESS RELATIONS
RPpublics - Alexandra Richert
+33 (0)1 45 23 55 01 -alexandra.richert@rppublics.com
ABOUTKAUFMAN& BROAD
For almost 50 years, Kaufman & Broad has designed, developed, built and sold individual resort homes, apartments and offices on behalf of third parties. Kaufman & Broad is one of the leading Developers-Builders because of its size, profitability and the power of its brand.
For more information about Kaufman & Broad SA:www.ketb.com
CONTACT
SENIORVICEPRESIDENT, FINANCE
Bruno Coche
+33 (0)1 41 43 43 59 -Infos-invest@ketb.com
PRESS RELATIONS
Camille Petit and Lucile Fogliani
+33 (0)1 56 03 12 80 -contact.presse@ketb.com
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