SHANGHAI, Oct 15 — Grosvenor, one of Britain’s biggest property firms, plans to launch a US$500 million (RM1.7 billion) Japan real estate fund early next year, and is speeding up investment in China, underscoring the company’s optimism toward Asia’s real estate market.
Grosvenor will fully invest its existing US$600 million China real estate fund over the next 18 months buying six or seven retail projects, and will start planning a second China fund next year, Asia Pacific CEO Nicholas Loup said today.
Grosvenor will also start developing residential projects in China next year, and is seeking local partnerships, he said.
The new plans for Japan and China follow a slowdown in investment during the global financial crisis of the past year. In 2008, Grosvenor posted a pre-tax loss of 593.9 million pounds (RM3.02 billion), and had a negative 8.6 per cent return on its global property assets.
“We’re moving gradually back into the market here (in China), and we’re also starting buying again in Tokyo” Loup said in an interview.
“There’s been a hard-landing in the property market in Japan. The condition now is about right to start investing again there.”
Loup expects positive returns on Grosvenor’s Asia Pacific property assets this year, compared with a negative 12.1 per cent return last year due to slumps in property prices.
Grosvenor owns or manages 12.6 billion pounds of assets globally, including the estate of the Duke of Westminster, one of Britain’s richest people, and large parts of top-end London district Mayfair. — Reuters
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