Mapletree fund to buy Beijing office building

A private real estate fund under Mapletree Investments will be buying a Grade A office building in Beijing for 2.9 billion yuan (S$0.6 billion).

Mapletree India China Fund (MIC Fund) will be taking over a special purpose vehicle holding legal and beneficial title to Beijing Gateway Plaza from Hong Kong-listed RREEF China Commercial Trust (RREEF CCT).

The purchase – subject to approval by RREEF CCT’s unitholders – will raise the value of MIC Fund’s portfolio to around US$1 billion.

Beijing Gateway Plaza sits in the Chaoyang district and comprises two 25-storey office towers linked by a three-storey retail podium. There are also three levels of carpark below ground. Above-ground gross floor area comes up to around 1.106 million sq ft.

‘China is an important investment market for us and with Beijing being the capital city of China, we are confident that the demand for good quality office space will continue to grow,’ said Mapletree CEO Hiew Yoon Khong.

‘There is limited new supply of Class A office space over the next few years and we expect occupancy and rental rates to trend upwards.’

According to Mapletree, Beijing Gateway Plaza has a ’strong’ tenant base which includes multinational corporations and domestic enterprises.

MIC Fund raised US$1.16 billion in committed capital and was set up to invest in office, retail and residential real estate in China and India. The Beijing Gateway Plaza deal marks its fourth acquisition in China.

The fund also invested in Future City in Xi’an, Mapletree Tower in Beijing, and Nanhai Business City in Foshan.

MIC Fund comes under Mapletree, a real estate capital management company. Mapletree owns and manages assets of about $12 billion, spanning the office, logistics, industrial, retail and lifestyle sectors across Asia.

Source : Business Times – 12 Feb 2010