Global Investment House “Global” announced today its latest acquisition in the People’s Republic of China, as part of its Asia Real Estate Fund investment strategy, making it the third investment in its portfolio of assets.
Last month only, Global Asia Real Estate Fund had announced the successful closure of two investments; one in China and another in India.
Mr. Sameer A. Al-Gharaballi, Executive Vice President at Global, said, “this investment will provide the fund an excellent opportunity to invest in the development of a mixed usage project consisting of residential and retail space in Changzhou city, China.
He added that this investment is a joint venture with a Chinese real estate development and construction company. Mr. Sameer stated that a “significant driver of our decision to invest in Changzhou relates to the fact that in recent years, there has been a strong demand in the real estate sector, especially in the residential segment.”
Changzhou city is strategically located in the Yangtze River Delta and it will benefit from the booming economy in the area. The site selected for the construction is easily accessible to all the supporting facilities.
Mr. Rakesh Patnaik, Head of Real Estate Funds at Global, revealed that the total cost of the project is approximately USD62 million in which the fund is contributing USD11 million as equity into the project.
With this equity investment, the fund aims to have a strategic stake of 49% in the project. He further added that the fund is in the process of conducting due diligence of two more transactions situated in India and South Korea. Patnaik expects the fund to be fully invested very soon.
From her side, Helen Wong, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Capital Asia -the fund advisor- stressed that the fund will benefit from strata-titled sale strategy of the residential and retail units.
The pre-sales of these units is expected to start shortly with complete exit through retail sales by 2010. The expected return to the fund anticipated to be greater than 25% on a gross basis.
It is worth mentioning here that Global Asia Real Estate Fund was offered to investors last year. The Fund specializes in investing in Chinese and Indian Real Estate markets in addition to its ability to invest in other Asian Real Estate Markets.
