GLOBAL – Aviva Investors has raised $300m (€225m) for investment in the Tokyo office sector while the Japanese capital's market remains "near the bottom of the cycle".
The third and final close of the Tokyo Recovery Fund, a joint venture with Secured Capital Investment Management, raised an additional $88m from four new investors.
Aviva Investors' chief executive for the Asia Pacific region, Ian Hally, said that while the fund's last close was oversubscribed, the company had decided it had reached the size "optimal for the scale of the market opportunities" in the city.
Referencing the fund's 50% gearing, he said: "Closing with an aggregate portfolio of over $600m at a time when fundraising is extremely difficult is testament to both our strategy and the attractiveness of the Tokyo real estate market."
The company said its goal would be to focus on quality office properties in central Tokyo, buying as many as six additional properties within the next 12 months.
It has so far acquired two properties, most recently a fully let 11-storey office complex in the district of Shibuya.
Naoya Nakata, managing director at Secured Capital, said he remained "confident" similar opportunities would arise in future.
Referencing a recent report on Tokyo offices, Aviva Investors said the market was currently "near the bottom of the cycle".
"Capital values in Tokyo are yet to recover, which suggests capital values could have greater upside potential than many markets in the Asia Pacific over the next few years," it said.
It added that Tokyo remained "attractive with bustling economic activity" – in contrast with the remainder of the country in the wake of reconstruction triggered by 2011's earthquake and tsunami, and the recent decision by the Bank of Japan to continue its quantitative easing programme.
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