Mirae Asset Global Investments denies IPO plan for REITs unit

[THE INVESTOR] Mirae Asset Global Investments denied July 28 a report that the firm plans to take its real estate investment trust unit public next year on stock exchanges in the US and Singapore to raise multitrillion won funds to accelerate its property investment business.

“We have long wished for setting up a real estate investment trust unit and its initial public offering. But we haven’t mapped out any plans,” an official at Mirae Asset Global Investments told The Investor. 

On July 28, a local news outlet Korea Economic Daily reported that South Korea’s major investment management firm would establish real estate investment trusts, or REITs, by the first half of 2017 and the new firm would go public within the next year.

The speculation came as some overseas properties investments by Mirae Asset Global Investments have brought high returns in recent years, including Mirae Asset Tower in Shanghai whose price has jumped fivefold in the past 10 years.

The asset manager has been an enthusiastic buyer of landmark hotels since 2013, from Four Seasons Hotel Sydney to Fairmont hotels in Hawaii and San Francisco.

Last month, the firm signed a deal to buy Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa for $780 million from US private equity firm Blackstone.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)