Mirae Asset hits stride in real estate

Mirae Asset Group is hitting its stride in real estate, with its asset management unit successfully completing the public offering of a fund investing in a building in Australia.

Mirae Asset said Thursday that it had completed subscription of its MAPS Australia real estate fund a day earlier than its initial deadline of Friday by raising 141 billion won ($124.6 million).

The asset management company formed the fund to finance its acquisition of the Canberra building, which is used as the office of Australia’s Department of Education and Training. The education department will use the building until March 2025 and the lease can be extended to 2030.

According to the company, the education department received an AAA rating from S&P and the building’s rent will rise 3.35 percent every year, allowing investors to expect annual yields of up to 6 percent. Mirae Asset said the fund was popular, even though subscribers had to invest at least 10 million won.

Mirae Asset Group has recently been trying to expand its business portfolio to property-related businesses. Earlier this month, its brokerage unit, Mirae Asset Daewoo, was chosen as a preferred bidder to acquire the Vodafone office complex in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mirae expects a 5 percent yield per year through leasing the property to Vodafone.

Last September, Mirae Asset also opened a fund investing in prime office buildings in Dallas, Texas, which would be leased to State Farm, the biggest non-life insurer in North America, for at least 20 years. Yearly yield is about 4.26 percent.

Following Mirae Asset’s drive to property businesses, Hana Asset Management is expected to release a public fund investing in the NASA headquarters building in Washington D.C.

The fund will set a 200 billion won target, about half of the 460 billion won acquisition price.