M&G Real Estate confirms $1.04bn Centropolis towers acquisition

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The real estate fund management arm of M&G Investments has confirmed buying a 26-storey twin tower office asset in Seoul for $1.04bn (€890m).

Last month, IPE Real Assets reported that M&G Real Estate is believed to have signed an agreement with Korean developer CTCore to buy Centropolis Towers for around KRW1.1trn (€831.8m).

Sources had told IPE Real Assets that M&G Real Estate planned to buy Centropolis for its M&G Asia Core Fund, based in Singapore, and co-investors.

M&G Real Estate said today it has acquired Centropolis on behalf of two of its property strategies in a joint venture with two South Korean pension funds.

The transaction is expected to complete in September.

The Centropolis towers are due to complete next month with a combined 134,399sqm of floor space.

Chiang Ling Ng, the CEO and CIO of M&G Real Estate in Asia, said: “We are delighted to be working with our South Korean joint venture partners to help them meet their investment objectives, whilst expanding our real estate portfolio in South Korea.

“We are seeing a rise in demand for high-quality assets in South Korea as domestic and international investors allocate more capital for commercial real estate.”

Korea is one of five core markets in the Asia Pacific for the UK manager.

Ng said Seoul’s office market, particularly the central business district, is in an early upcycle with limited future supply of prime office space.

”With intense competition for best in class assets, Centropolis is well-positioned to benefit from this trend and will contribute significant value to our property strategies.”

Tony Brown, the head of M&G Real Estate, said: “For a long time we have seen a trend in global real estate for large institutional investors to partner with established real estate solutions providers like ourselves through joint ventures and separate accounts.

“Not only do we have the track record and expertise for sourcing and structuring large deals, we have a thorough understanding of global capital and the geographical reach to help it access the UK, European and Asian markets.”