GreenOak Real Estate closes $650m Japan fund

Visual of GreenOak Real Estate homepage. March 2016

By Shiwen Yap

March 4, 2016

GreenOak Real Estate, a real estate-focussed private equity firm, has closed a $650-million Japan-oriented fund. The fund has a two-year investment period, with a total term of seven years.

Founded in 2010 by three former heads of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing – Sonny Kalsi, John Carrafiell and Fred Schmidt – the firm maintains a portfolio of European, Japanese and US properties, primarily commercial office buildings.

According to its website, it has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Seoul, Madrid, Munich and Tokyo.

As of Septembre 2015, it claims to have approximately $5.6 billion of assets under management (AUM) globally and has raised $3.5 billion of equity to invest in targeted strategies and assets.

In a development reported by PERE, Greenoak was successful in reaching the hard cap for GreenOak Asia Fund II.

According to PERE, the fund was started as a higher-yielding vehicle that was launched with an initial $500 million target. Most investors who committed capital to their first $260 million fund in 2013 have re-upped into the new fund.

According to PERE, most of the first fund’s capital – including new investors and 15 repeat investors – has been invested by Asian and US institutions.

GreenOak Real Estate’s Asia strategy has been focusing on investing in Japan. The $260 million maiden fund has been fully deployed and the firm is in the process of liquidating its investments.

It will follow the same investment strategy as the first fund, targeting office complexes in within Tokyo and Osaka. However about 20 per cent of the capital is slated for deployment in assets outside of Japan.

This could see it complement current investments in Spain, where it maintains €700 million of investment capacity and is in the process of developing a logistics platform.

It closed its first European vehicle – the Continental European Private Equity Real Estate Fund – on a hard cap of €250 million in November 2015.

It was reported that the second fund has already deployed around 15 per cent of its capital. One of the assets newly added to its portfolio is a Tokyo office building purchased from Mitsubishi Real Estate, with net IRRs in the mid to high teens being targeted from the investments.

Also Read:

SG Realty Dealbook:LMIR to acquire Bali mall;Starhill completes sale of Japan property

Singapore: China Yuanbang unit sells stake in Wanyuan Yuanbang Resort; Oxley to sell $60m Japan property

TICON forms JV with Indonesia’s property developer & Japan’s Mitsui

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW