Gaw Sells Mainland Logistics Assets to Ping An in $280M Deal

Hong Kong’s Gaw Capital Partners has announced the sale of a portfolio of three mainland logistics assets with sources familiar with the matter pointing to Chinese insurance giant Ping An as the buyer.

The portfolio, which comprises two industrial parks in the Guangdong provincial city of Jiangmen and one facility in the central Chinese city of Xi’an, changed hands for over RMB 2 billion ($280 million), the sources indicated.

The venture firm led by tycoon Goodwin Gaw confirmed the disposal last week in an announcement touting the successful exit of Gaw’s first logistics vehicle in China.

“This achievement underscores our team’s dedication and the trust our investors place in us,” said Humbert Pang, managing principal and head of China at Gaw. “We are proud of our achievements and will continue our long-term commitment in the China market.”

Ten-Year Hold

The three assets come from a broader Gaw portfolio of logistics projects acquired and developed since the company established a joint venture with Italian industrial developer Vailog in 2014 with $300 million in initial capital to jointly acquire, develop and manage logistics facilities in China.

At the time of the venture’s establishment, the partners had aimed to build a portfolio of assets totalling 1 million square metres (10.8 million square feet) and $1 billion in value. Since then, the venture has invested in nearly 40 projects totalling 4 million square metres and $1.5 billion in asset value, according to Gaw’s website. The projects constitute part of the firm’s 2013-vintage Gateway Real Estate Fund IV.

In 2018, Germany’s Allianz Real Estate, as PIMCO Prime was then known, acquired a 50 percent stake in the Gaw-Vailog joint venture for an undisclosed sum, giving Allianz half-ownership of a portfolio of five logistics projects in Shanghai, Jiaxing, Foshan, Wuhan and Shenyang with a total leasable area of 375,000 square metres. Gaw and Vailog retained the remaining half of the venture and continued to manage the assets.

In its announcement, Gaw provided no specifics about the assets sold, the identity of the buyer or the current status of the JV with PIMCO Prime and Vailog. The assets traded are understood not to have come from the joint venture with PIMCO Prime, and the company has made no announcement regarding the transaction.

Milan-based Vailog was fully absorbed by UK-listed industrial REIT Segro last April. The Europe-focused trust, which has not disclosed any assets in Asia Pacific, had taken a majority stake in Vailog in 2015.

Gaw, which managed $33.7 billion of global assets as of last year’s third quarter, has recently pursued investments outside of China, with the firm investing in data centre projects in Indonesia and Malaysia and acquiring the Hyatt Regency and logistics assets in Tokyo. At the same time, the fund manager has been shopping a Grade A office building in Shanghai.

Note: An earlier version of this story indicated that the target assets in the transaction came from a joint venture with PIMCO Prime Real Estate. The assets are understood to be separate from that joint venture. Mingtiandi regrets the error.