Fosun Buys Second Tokyo Office Tower Within Five Months

Shanghai-based Fosun International has purchased a 23-storey office building in Tokyo, its second major real estate acquisition in Japan’s capital city in the last five months.

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese conglomerate acquired the Shinagawa Seaside Park Tower through its IDERA Capital Management subsidiary. Fosun did not reveal the amount paid for the building in Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward.

Fosun has rapidly established itself as one of China’s biggest investors in global real estate projects after it purchased One Chase Manhattan Plaza last year for $725 million.

Second Tokyo Acquisition for Fosun and More on the Way

Fosun’s new office block is less than two kilometres away from the SeaFort Square Citi Group Center building that it purchased in August.

A number of globally recognised brands are headquartered in Shinagawa ward, including Acura, NSK, and Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten.

IDERA itself was only acquired by Fosun in May of this year, as the Shanghai company began to take a serious interest in the Japan market. A recent survey of Asian property professionals by non-profit industry association the Urban Land Institute found that Tokyo is now the top destination for investment and development projects among the survey respondents.

Commenting on this latest acquisition, Fosun boss Guo Guangchang indicated that more deals could be on the way. “We believe that in the future IDERA shall help Fosun as well as other global institutional investors to close more investments in properties in Japan,” Guo said in a statement.

Speaking to the press earlier this year, Xu Xiaoliang, president of Fosun Property Holding said, “With the Tokyo Olympics coming up, the outlook is bright for the Japanese real estate market. We will invest actively here via Idera.”

The company indicated that its focus will be on office and apartment buildings in Tokyo and Osaka. Eventually Fosun hopes to develop its own projects in Japan.

Fosun Continuing Overseas Buying Spree

And Japan is not the only country where Fosun is looking for deals. In addition to its purchase of the Chase tower in Manhattan last year, Fosun also played a key role in a multi-national consortium that won approval this year from the Greek government for a $1.25 billion real estate development project at the old Athens airport site.

Beyond the world of real estate, the company has also been locked in a long-running competition to acquire the Club Med brand, purchased two banks in Germany earlier this year and in January bought a European insurer for $1.36 billion.

Fosun has raised concerns among some analysts for its heavy reliant on debt for its acquisitions, but has also raised funds from insurers and private equity to fuel its investment drive.