SWEDEN – AP2, the Second Swedish National Pension Fund, has bought a 41% stake in the property company US Office Holdings, which is jointly owned by the South Korean National Pension fund (NPS) and an affiliate of US real estate company Tishman Speyer.
Eva Halvarsson, chief executive of AP2, said: "This investment enables us to invest in the American property market together with other long-term investors with extensive local knowledge and experience.”
Investing in the US was also attractive because the market there was mature and transparent with potential for growth, she said.
As well as owning three properties directly, US Office Holdings is also a co-owner of property company, PPI -- Prime Plus Investments – along with the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. PPI has 12 properties.
AP2 said US Office Holdings’ total property portfolio comprised 15 well-located office properties, totalling around 830,000m2. The market value of the portfolio was over $1.8bn.
The Swedish pension fund said 70% of the company’s portfolio value related to properties on the east and west coasts of the US, in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Beverly Hills, while 20% related to properties in Chicago.
