KKR to buy Namsan Green Building in Seoul for $186.7 million

KKR & Co. Inc. has agreed to buy Namsan Green Building in a central office district in Seoul for an estimated 250 billion won ($186.7 million).

The New York-based leading private equity firm with assets under management of $504 billion announced on Friday that it signed a contract to buy the 57,574-square-meter office building near Seoul Station, a major railway station in the capital city of South Korea.

It did not disclose its offer price for the building, but investment banking industry sources estimated it at about 250 billion won.

Namsan Green Building, completed in 1994, is currently leased to SK Broadband Inc., Korean telecom major SK Telecom Co.’s internet service arm, as its head office and the telecom's other affiliates.

Asia Real Estate Partners, KKR’s Asia-dedicated real estate fund, will lead the investment while aiming to complete the deal in May.

“Our investment in Namsan Green Building provides us with a unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset in a strategic location,” said David Cheong, managing director of real estate at KKR.

“We remain confident in the long-term prospects of Korea’s office real estate market, where future supply is extremely limited and demand for office space continues to be resilient.”

KKR has been expanding the list of its real estate assets in major cities across Asia including Korea. It has purchased other premium commercial buildings in Seoul, including Namsan Square, K Twin Towers and Centerfield.

It also owns Twenty Anson, a prime-grade office building in Singapore, and various major office buildings across Japan.   

Globally KKR’s real estate team manages about $65 billion in assets as of December 2022.

Write to Ji-Eun Ha at hazzys@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.