Blackstone Group LP, New York-based global private equity and alternative asset manager, will acquire two logistics centers in South Korea’s key geographic location in Gyeonggi Province for about 70 billion won ($60 million), a milestone property investment by the world’s largest PEF in Korea after its high-profile purchasing of Capital Tower in Seoul five months ago.

According to sources on Sunday, Blackstone in cooperation with Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. recently signed an agreement to buy Anseong Core Logis and Yongin Able Logis. Blackstone, and Mirae Asset will complete the payment by January.

The two logistics centers sit on a large space of 30,000 square meters each in the southeastern part of the province emerging as a logistics hub for the country. Local courier service company Han Express Co. and other third-party logistics companies are using them under a five-year lease contract. Given the level of rental income in the vicinity, the investors can expect an annual return of somewhere between 6.5 percent and 7 percent.

Market watchers believe Blackstone will up its investment in local logistics facilities as it did in China and Japan over the next few years. Blackstone is testing the waters with this small-scale investment to see how it can steer its investment strategy in Korea’s logistics industry, said an investment banking expert.

Institutional investors recently turned their eyes to logistics centers on a fast growth of online and mobile shoppers as they have been losing their appetite for already pricy office buildings in major cities.

Several Korean institutional investors including Hana Asset Management Company joined hands last month with E-Shang Redwood, a subsidiary of global PEF Warburg Pincus led by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, to inject some 350 billion won into logistics centers in Korea, China and Japan because of the staggering growth in e-commerce markets in Asia.

Blackstone made a debut in Korea’s property market in June by acquiring Capital Tower in Gangnam for about 450 billion won.

By Song Gwang-sup

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