Middle East

Libyan SWF makes £155m London foray

The Libyan Foreign Investment Company has become the latest sovereign wealth fund to invest in London commercial real estate directly.

$300bn sat 'on sidelines' waiting to target distressed RE and PE

Hundreds of billions of dollars are sat on the sidelines waiting to invest in distressed corporate debt and real estate, according to funds lawyer Sandy Presant – but few investors will ‘jump’ now when opportunities could be better in six to 12 months time, a conference heard today.

Feature: JLL advisor explains why the Middle East is going direct

This month saw two direct investments in the City of London by Middle Eastern investors better known for making third party investments into blind pool, discretionary funds. PERE spoke with the agent behind these deals about their wind change in investment priorities.

Israeli group in talks over £100m London office deal

Israel’s Property and Building announced that it is considering paying UK REIT British Land for a stake in an office complex at Liverpool Street Station.

KK DaVinci to sell ¥3.4 billion REIT manager

Tokyo-based private equity real estate firm KK DaVinci is to sell DaVinci Select, the management unit responsible for the DA Office Investment Corporation J-REIT, to Japanese securities brokerage Daiwa Securities Group. The deal coincides with Daiwa’s purchase of a 13 percent stake in the J-REIT

Evans Randall and Bahrain bank buy London office for £127m

Two banks – one UK-based and the other from Bahrain – have combined to buy Milton Gate office block in the financial heart of London. UBS Global Asset Management is the seller.

Hudson looks for £75m

Hudson Global Capital Partners is seeking to raise £75 million for a vehicle called Open Sky to buy Central London property.

MGPA completes €210m Paris purchase

MGPA has added to investments in Italy, Greece and Poland with the €210m purchase of Hammerson’s Les Trois Quartiers office and retail building.

Bahrain sees value in third party fund managers

The chief executive of Mumtalakat, the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has outlined the fund’s strategy of expanding its investment horizons to areas including real estate. Investments will be made with third party fund managers and be done directly.

Equity International plans additional Brazil investments

The Chicago-based firm co-founded by Sam Zell and Gary Garrabrant categorically rules out investing in the US but says it wants to grow its five investments in Brazil real estate operating companies to at least seven or eight. The firm is also looking to China, Vietnam and Egypt for future deals.