SEB Asset Management, which is being taken over by Savills Investment Management, has sold two Japanese office buildings as it continues to liquidate its German open-ended fund (GOEF) business.
SEB ImmoInvest sold the Hamamatsucho Center Building in Tokyo and the Shin Osaka Building in Osaka after eight years of ownership.
The fund manager said the buildings were bought by a Japanese real estate investment trust (REIT) for JPY8.5bn (€62m).
Both buildings were bought in 2007 and were SEB Asset Management’s first investments in Japan. The German fund manager went on to own nine Japanese properties for various funds and mandates.
Choy-Soon Chua, managing director for Asia at SEB Invest, said the decision to sell the properties was based on high demand among investors for Japanese real estate and the age of the buildings. SEB Asset Management negotiated a number of lease extensions before the building was sold.
“Japan nevertheless remains a key target market,” he said.
SEB Asset Management, which will effectively double Savills Investment Management’s €7.2bn assets under management when it is acquired, is winding down its €6bn GOEF business while continuing to grow its €4bn institutional real estate arm.
“We are currently assessing further potential investments for our institutional investors,” said Choy-Soon Chua.
“In addition, we have identified acquisition opportunities in Singapore and Australia.”
