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GE Real Estate Enters China With US $20 Million Investment in CITIC Capital Vanke China Property Development Fund
Wednesday March 22, 11:26 am ET
STAMFORD, Conn., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Real Estate today announced its first commercial real estate investment in China. GE will invest US $20 million and be the sole Strategic Investor in the newly formed CITIC Capital Vanke China Property Development Fund.
The Fund, together with China Vanke Co., Ltd., the largest publicly listed real estate developer in China, plans to invest a total of US $100-150MM in residential real estate assets in specified economically developed regions in China, including the Pearl River Delta Region, the Yangtze River Delta Region, the Pan Bohai Region and other selected inland cities.
The Fund will be managed by CITIC Capital, a member of the CITIC Group (CITIC), a Chinese transnational financial services conglomerate. China Vanke Co., Ltd. will be the exclusive development manager for all Fund investments. A CITIC group entity and China Vanke Co., Ltd. will also make a substantial capital commitment to the Fund. The Fund will be domiciled in the Cayman Islands and governed by Cayman Islands law.
Michael Pralle, President and CEO of GE Real Estate, commented, "The CITIC/Vanke China Property Development Fund is the ideal vehicle for entry, as we are partnering with two of the most reputable companies in China."
"Investing in residential properties is the right entry strategy, because it is the most robust and liquid commercial real estate segment in China. The value of this partnership exists in learning this market and establishing a confident presence in multiple business centers throughout China," noted Mark Hutchinson, President, GE Real Estate Asia-Pacific. "Also, as the sole strategic investor we have a right to further co-investment, giving us the potential to scale up the portfolio managed by this partnership significantly."
Pralle added, "Also, we will be exploring investment opportunities in other asset types throughout China, including retail, hotel, office and industrial properties. We have a pipeline of deals totaling several hundred million dollars which we will review as we move forward. We see great potential in China."
Following this transaction GE Commercial Finance Real Estate Asia-Pacific will have real estate investments and operations in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.
Notes to editors:
About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (http://www.gerealestate.com) is a world leader in real estate capital. Formed in 1972, the business has more than $35 billion in core assets with 34 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, backed by its parent company's AAA rating, offers a broad range of financing, equity and servicing solutions including: intermediate and long-term mortgage financing, restructuring and acquisition capital, niche equity investment/joint ventures, capital markets securitization and placements, and asset management. As one of the fastest growing units within GE Commercial Finance, Real Estate has experienced annual growth of more than 10% for the last ten consecutive years.
GE Commercial Finance (http://www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses an extensive array of financial services and products worldwide. With approximately $217 billion in assets and an expertise in the mid-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. GE Commercial Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE - News), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
dacare This entry was posted on April 14th, 2006 at 09:32:29 pm by dacare and is filed under Investing in China.