NH Investment, Nuveen jointly buy Amazon warehouse in Japan

NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. has taken a 50.1% stake in an Amazon distribution center in Japan for around 150 billion won ($130 million) in a joint acquisition of the property with the US-based Nuveen Real Estate.

The equity purchase, expected to yield 8% per annum, represented the first investment by a South Korean institution in the Asian facility for Amazon, as Korean investors are expanding logistics portfolios beyond competitive Europe.

Under the deal, Nuveen’s Asia Pacific Cities Fund acquired the remaining 49.9% stake in the facility located in Odawara, 80 km southwest of Tokyo, according to a source with knowledge of the mater on Jan. 10. It was first reported by MoneyToday this week.

In December, Nuveen reportedly made the joint purchase of the distribution center with a net leasable area of 200,000 square meters from the Blackstone Group. The acquisition cost was not disclosed.

Nuveen is a unit of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America.

For NH Investment, the deal marked its second investment in Amazon’s logistics facility following the joint purchase of an Amazon warehouse in Poznan, Poland for 100 billion won with Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. in 2016.

If the planned resale to domestic investors is uncompleted, it may keep part of the investment through a real estate investment trust.

Since 2016, Korean institutional investors, including Samsung Securities Co. Ltd. and Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. Ltd., have snapped up Amazon logistics centers across Europe for a total of 2 trillion won.

hiuneal@hankyung.com

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