KKR Buys Greater Seoul Shed From Invesco for $195M

Private equity giant KKR has acquired a multi-tenant warehouse in South Korea from US asset manager Invesco for KRW 270 billion ($195 million).

KKR picked up the four-storey facility in Hwaseong, a Greater Seoul city between Incheon Airport, Incheon Port and Pyeongtaek Port, in collaboration with the Manhattan-based firm’s Korean real estate unit Kreate Asset Management. Completed in 2022, Logisco Hwaseong provides more than 107,800 square metres (1.2 million square feet) of both cold and dry storage space, with key tenants including Samsung Electronics and e-commerce group Coupang.

A KKR representative declined to comment on the deal, which was first reported by Seoul Property Insight, but Invesco confirmed the transaction when contacted by Mingtiandi.

“We are very proud of the industrial portfolio developed by our local Korean platform and the sale of Logisco Hwaseong marks the culmination of a remarkable journey, from breaking ground to securing blue‑chip domestic tenants while navigating a challenging market environment along the way,” said Calvin Chou, head of Asia Pacific at Invesco Real Estate.

Second Exit

Invesco acquired the Logisco Hwaseong project in 2020 via its Asia value-add strategy under a partnership with Korean industrial builder Redwood Group. The assets purchased for the fund are nearing the end of their investment period and the Atlanta-based firm is in the process of capital raising, according to Seoul Property Insight.

The sale marks Invesco’s second exit from a Korean warehouse investment, following the 2023 sale of Logisco Yangji, a 205,789 square metre facility in Seoul’s surrounding Gyeonggi province, to Mirae Asset Management for KRW 467 billion.

Leasing demand propelled by rapid e-commerce growth continues to attract global investors to South Korea after trades of income-earning logistics properties in the country rose 51 percent last year compared with 2023 levels, according to MSCI.

In May of this year, Singapore’s RealVantage acquired a $55 million warehouse project in the Icheon logistics hotspot southeast of Seoul alongside developer ESR, giving the fractional investment platform its first asset in Asia Pacific’s fourth-largest economy.

Brookfield Asset Bid

A tie-up of KKR and Kreate has emerged as the front-runner to acquire Brookfield Cheongna Logistics Center in Incheon in a deal potentially valued at KRW 1 trillion ($720 million), the Korea Economic Daily reported late Monday, citing investment banking sources.

Canadian giant Brookfield has struggled to sell the facility it acquired in 2023 for KRW 659 billion because of the high price and warehouse oversupply in the market, according to KED, which said the bidding for the shed also drew local players IGIS Asset Management and Pacific Asset Management.

Representatives of KKR and Brookfield declined to comment on the report when reached by Mingtiandi on Monday.