A joint venture was agreed upon between the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI), Investment Europe reported. The deal is meant to focus attention on the Japanese property market and other markets that have become "mature" in the region of the Asia-Pacific.
This new venture is directed towards investments in residential assets including multi-family, senior, student, and corporate housing. The properties acquired are newly-constructed or otherwise; there are plans to also acquire older residential properties. The plans for these are to be re-purposed into something which has commercial uses.
The joint venture is in the market to deliver "a compelling Asia-Pacific strategy for investors." As for what this means, ASI noted that it may be geared towards creating a trend of urbanization in Japan.
The largest cities--Tokyo and Osaka--are prime candidates for this trend, which provides an aid worthy enough to help the joint venture's strategy along.
Apac Real Estate further reported on the deal; details were not available for disclosure at the time. The subsidiary, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Real Estate Investment Management, and Aberdeen will handle the JV through co-management as well as co-investment.
This will target value-add investments and acquire recently completed properties thanks to a "forward commitment basis."
David Paine, global co-head of real estate at the firm, said that the joint venture was an important step to expansion. The global investment offering was a big help while ASI continued to heed the investors' needs, most notably in completing alpha and diversified returns.
ASI continued to explore the benefits of the JV, which they noted would take advantage of a wave of urbanization currently gripping Japan.
The Japanese model noticed in the cities of Tokyo and Osaka will be the basis for the model of search they are currently undertaking, this time for similar markets and cities spread throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Paine said that the partnership was much welcome and that the company is looking forward to exploring whatever they can get out of the agreement.
As for Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, Kengo Noguchi, the senior managing executive officer, said that the banking institution was "confident in a successful partnership" which would help them showcase their natural skill in real estate brokerage, as well as the management of assets for another company.
ASI continued to review available markets in the region and in near-Asia markets, including Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
