This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:25 p.m. on Mar. 23, 2026.
Kiwoom Asset Management will move to sell Lotte Mall Gwangmyeong, the first asset it added after entering the domestic REITs business. With a long-term master lease (responsible tenancy) contract with Lotte Shopping providing stable rental income, observers say the likelihood of the transaction going through is high. The deal size is expected to reach the 400 billion won range.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 23rd, Kiwoom Asset Management is pushing to sell Lotte Mall Gwangmyeong, which it holds through the Kiwoom Core Retail No. 1 REIT. It recently finished selecting an advisor and is confirmed to have obtained board approval for the related agenda. The sell side is said to be conducting preliminary marketing with the goal of closing the transaction within the year.
Lotte Mall Gwangmyeong was recently valued at about 400 billion won based on an appraisal. The market expects the price to be set in the low-400 billion won range, given the total project cost (350 billion won) at the time of acquisition and the stable rental income structure.
Lotte Mall Gwangmyeong is a large mixed-use shopping mall with a gross floor area of about 125,660 square meters in Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Since its completion in 2015, Lotte Shopping has continuously used it under a responsible tenancy (master lease). The lease runs until 2035.
Kiwoom Asset Management acquired the asset for about 350 billion won in 2022 from KTB Asset Management. At the time of the acquisition, the annual rent was about 15 billion won, and the structure applies an annual rent escalation rate of about 2%. It currently collects about 4 billion won in rent each quarter, securing stable annual cash flow of more than 16 billion won. Based on this structure, the REIT is said to have maintained dividends in the 6% range on average annually since inception.
In particular, coupled with the long-term master lease based on Lotte Shopping's creditworthiness, a triple-net (Triple Net) structure under which the tenant bears taxes, maintenance costs, and insurance premiums is applied, leading to an assessment that it has stability close to a bond-like asset. As a result, excluding operating expenses, most of the rent can flow to investor returns, increasing the likelihood of demand from institutional investors.
The sale is also meaningful in that it is the first investment asset exit since Kiwoom Asset Management entered the REITs asset management company (AMC) business. The company entered the REITs business by adding the asset immediately after obtaining full AMC authorization.
The market expects the sale to draw strong interest, as expectations for rate cuts continue and preference for core assets persists, highlighting the scarcity of retail assets with stable rental income. An industry official said, "Domestic consumption is showing moderate growth based on a recovery in services, and transactions of large retail facilities are gradually increasing," adding, "As an asset used long term by a strong tenant, it will attract significant investor interest."