Vailog China
is a major logistics
developer in China
Deals to
Include Acquisition, Development and Management of Modern Warehouses in China
June 24, 2015 – Gaw Capital Partners, the Hong Kong–based real
estate private equity firm, announced that it has
reached an agreement with Vailog China for the acquisition, development and management of modern warehouses in
China through its GREF IV.
Vailog China entered
the China market in 2006 and has become a
major logistics developer in China, working in joint venture with other
first class developers such as GLP. As of June 2015,
Vailog China boasts a track
record of over 1,300,000 sqm of warehouses completed or under construction.
Gaw Capital’s
investments have been spanning the spectrum of residential development,
commercial offices, retail malls, serviced apartments, and hotels. Through this
important deal, Gaw Capital’s strategic capabilities will broaden to include
the acquisition, development and management of industrial real estate in China
as well.
GREF IV has committed
to several projects in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang and Guangzhou. With further
capital injection from co-investment, this joint venture plans to acquire
another seven pipeline development projects in the next 12 months in order to build
up a high quality, nationwide logistics portfolio of one million square meters
of net leasable area.
Kenneth Gaw, President
and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, said, “We are quite pleased to partner with Vailog China
for this very meaningful deal. Currently, warehouse stock per capita in the US is 12 times that in China, indicating room for growth. Modern logistics stock in China only takes up about a very
small portionof total market stock – and this is a still
undersupplied sector versus other asset classes. Demand is driven among others by the rise of
consumption and e-commerce, which have grown by respectively 12% and 84%
annually over the last 7 years. Our cooperation with Vailog is aiming at this
market and will build a high quality Shanghai-centric nation-wide portfolio,
mostly on China’s tier-one markets.”
Christina Gaw, Head of
Capital Markets and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners,alludes
to the success with the support from a consortium of Asian-based sovereign fund
investors to enable an initial platform size of USD 300 million, with a target of USD 1 billion eventually.
Walter Qian, CEO
of Vailog China, said “We are delighted to welcome Gaw Capital as a first class
partner for the development of our business. With its long experience and
in-depth real estate expertise, Gaw Capital will help Vailog reach important
business targets, including offering our customers a wide range of high quality
logistics facilities throughout China.
Gateway Real
Estate Fund IV, was closed in October 2013 and brought total
equity raised for this fund to its hard cap size of
US$ 1.025 billion – Gaw Capital
Partners’ largest fund ever. Gateway Real Estate Fund IV employed an
opportunistic investment strategy – targeting real estate assets that have
favorable risk-return profiles in the Greater China and Asia
Pacific region. The Fund has so far invested in 11 projects
in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenyang, Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo and
Seoul. Its acquisition of Beijing Century Place was the largest single-asset
property deal by foreign firm in mainland China and was voted as “Asia Deal of
the Year 2014” by PERE.