Friday, August 19, 2005

Carlyle to invest in Asia property

Carlyle to invest in Asia property

By Dominic Whiting, Asia property correspondent
Reuters
Thursday, August 18, 2005; 2:09 AM
washingtonpost.com

HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm The Carlyle Group will invest in around $1.5 billion of property in China, Japan and South Korea, the manager of the company's first Asian real estate fund said on Thursday.
The fund, which will borrow heavily to bolster $410 million of equity recently raised from investors such as pension funds and private banks, is keen on Chinese shopping centers and housing, and offices in Japanese cities and Seoul.
Carlyle's managing director for Asia real estate, Jason Lee, told Reuters the fund would soon sign a deal with a Chinese developer to build middle-class homes in Beijing, despite government efforts to cool a housing boom.
Measures including a capital gains tax to curb speculation and mortgage rate rises have hit the Shanghai property market hard since May, slowing transactions to around a third of the previous level and slashing some apartment prices by 20 percent.
"Everyone's concerned about overheating, especially in the luxury market in Shanghai. We're cautious as well," Lee said, declining to give details of the planned partnership.
But every major city in China had different property market characteristics. "And even within cities you have different dynamics in each asset class," Lee said.
Carlyle is also looking to build or buy shopping centers in Shanghai and Beijing, to cash in on an influx of foreign retailers that has gathered pace since last December when China eased investment rules for the industry.
A host of property investors are thinking along the same lines, with Singapore's CapitaLand Ltd. and Australia's Macquarie Bank snapping up shopping centers this year, and U.S. firms Taubman Centers Inc. and Simon Property Group on the prowl.
"It's a race to team up with foreign operators in particular," said Lee, referring to firms such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is setting up 10-15 new stores this year.
"ASIA GROWTH STORY"
Carlyle, which runs Asian venture capital and leveraged buy-out funds, has so far dabbled in pure real estate investment in Asia, buying a 900,000 sq ft Japanese warehouse complex, a 14-storey office in a Tokyo satellite town, and two 20-storey offices in Seoul.
In Japan, the new fund is looking beyond central Tokyo for offices, to Osaka and Fukuoka, because prices in the capital have been rising fast.
"We're in the midst of putting together a strategic partnership on the retail side," Lee said. "And for office, we're looking at sub markets of Tokyo and other cities with good demographics."
Lee said the Seoul office market was still attractive, with yields of 8-9 percent, despite a flow of domestic capital into property that has raised prices.
"You still have rental growth. There's virtually no new supply," Lee said, adding that Carlyle also wanted to diversify into residential and retail property in South Korea.
International investors were gaining enthusiasm for property in Asia, Lee said, as China's economic growth rates of around 9 percent, and trade growth of around 30 percent, spurs the region's economies.
"People feel comfortable that one way to play the Asia growth story is to get into real estate," he said.
Lee said the Carlyle fund could venture outside its three core markets of China, Japan and South Korea if the right deal were offered. He had received several proposals from India, where foreign property investment rules were eased in February.
"I can't say we will invest in any significant way with this first fund," Lee said. "But hopefully, when we move onto the fund number two, India will be a market that we pursue."

(c) 2005 Reuters

不動産投資、カーライルが1000億円――中韓と合わせ2000億円ファンド。
2005/08/19, , 日経金融新聞, 1ページ,  , 717文字

 米投資会社のカーライル・グループが日本を中心とするアジアでの不動産投資を加速する。今月上旬に二千億円の不動産ファンドを立ち上げ、日本、中国、韓国で投資を始める。日本の不動産市場は投資採算の低下が懸念されるが、対象を介護施設やホテルなどまで広げ、企業買収チームとも連携することで、有望物件の確保や高い利回りをねらう。
 カーライル・グループが日本向けの不動産ファンドを設定したのは初めて。二千億円のうち半分を日本、残りを中国、韓国に向ける。投資対象はオフィスビルやマンションだけでなく、介護施設やホテル、ショッピングセンターにも広げる。
 グループの企業買収チームと連携し、投資物件を発掘する。企業買収チームの対象企業には不動産を保有している例が多く、ファンドで買い取り企業にリースバックしたり、商業施設などに用途変更したりする。「経営支援と一体でカーライルの総合力を発揮していく」(不動産投資を担当する南亮一マネージング・ディレクター)戦略だ。
 日本の不動産投資信託(REIT)の市場規模は約三兆円だが、「三―五年という期間でみれば確実に拡大する。十兆円程度に成長してもいい」(南氏)とみている。テナント集めの失敗や改装・修繕の不備など管理手法の失敗で、開発後、一定の期間が経過して賃料収入が少し下落した物件を狙う。最終的にREITに売却する。
 ファンドの二千億円の約七割は借入金で調達、残りは機関投資家、年金基金、個人富裕層が出資した。投資家の九割が海外で、年利回り二〇%以上を目指す。
 中国ではオフィスなどの新規開発案件への投資が中心になる。「北京五輪や上海万博までは開発需要は大きく、市場は加速度的に拡大する」(南氏)とみている。

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