Gaw Capital Partners has raised US$2.2bn (€1.98bn) in the final close of its sixth China-focused Asia-Pacific fund, Gateway Real Estate Fund VI.
It is its single largest fund ever raised and Gaw Capital also secured up to US$800m of co-investment capital.
New and repeat investors joined the fund, including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds.
Most of the investors came from Europe (46%), followed by Asia (37%) and North America (17%).
Christina Gaw, managing principal and head of capital markets, said: “The fund serves as an important investment vehicle for investors looking to get exposure to this high-growth region, while achieving portfolio diversification.”
She said investors welcomed the firm’s expansion into new sectors, such as data centres, healthcare and education-related real estate platforms.
“These are followed by our successful execution in other existing thematic portfolios such as retail outlet malls and logistics,” she added.
Kenneth Gaw, managing principal and president of Gaw Capital Partners, said: “As a region that is both maturing and still growing rapidly, Asia offers a great diversity of real estate investment opportunities.”
The fund will target gateway cities in Greater China as well as select exposure to Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Southeast Asia and Australia.
It will also consider operating platforms and pre-IPO real estate companies looking for strategic capital.
Several investments have already been made, including a Hong Kong office building acquired for HK$4.75bn (€548m), and an office block in Singapore’s Robinson Road for S$710m (€470m).
The fund was part of a consortium alongside Goldman Sachs and Blackstone that acquired 12 shopping centres from Hong Kong’s Link REIT for HK$12bn last year.
The manager has also entered an A$600m (€369m) joint venture with an Australian group to develop retirement villages.
This year it bought a residential portfolio in central Tokyo, acquired four premium office buildings in Shanghai and set up a joint venture in China to build data centres.
Fund VI was launched in July 2018 after its predecessor raised A$1.3bn in 2017. It has four years to fully deploy its capital from the time of its final close.
