Samsung SRA Asset Management has bought an office complex, known as The K-Twin Towers, in South Korea’s capital for around KRW713bn (€534m).
Samsung SRA paid around KRW8.5m per sqm – the highest price ever paid for a commercial building in Seoul.
Young W. Chai, Samsung SRA’s senior managing director and CIO, told IPE Real Assets, that the acquisition was finalised yesterday.
Chai said the asset is owned jointly by the firm’s domestic, co-mingled office fund and a special private vehicle, set up to hold the asset.
“It is such a large purchase that we had to create a sidecar fund to co-own the building.”
Chai said the vendor was a fund, managed by Vestas Investment Management.
It was, however, reported that the asset was ultimately owned by US private equity firm Kolberg Kravis Roberts and the Hong Kong-based investment firm LIM Advisers, who offered the twin towers for sale last September.
The 22-story twin towers were completed in 2012. It is almost fully occupied with anchor tenants, including Microsoft, WeWork and Woori Card.
Chai said this is the second acquisition of the domestic close-ended, core and core-plus office.
This purchase came after Samsung SRA acquired 200 Aldersgate in London from AshbyCapital for £315m (€355.3m) last week for its Global Core Office Real Estate Investment Trust No 2 .
The real estate investment management arm of Samsung Life Insurance launched the second global core office fund, raising KRW500bn from South Korean institutional investors last year.
Following the latest UK purchase, said Chai, the global fund has another KRW300bn of equity to invest.
