IGIS Asset Management will acquire The K Twin Towers, a core prime office in Seoul's central business district (CBD). It secured the upper hand in a competitive bid joined by major managers including Mastern Investment Management, Koramco REITs Management and Trust, Hyundai Haim Asset Management, and NH Nonghyup REITs Management.
According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 2nd, Samsung SRA Asset Management selected IGIS Asset Management as the preferred bidder for the sale of The K Twin Towers and notified the parties of the decision the same day. In the main bid held in May, major domestic real estate managers, including IGIS Asset Management, Mastern Investment Management, Koramco REITs Management and Trust, Hyundai Haim Asset Management, and NH Nonghyup REITs Management, reportedly took part and engaged in fierce competition.
The K Twin Towers is a prime office located around Gwanghwamun in Jung-hak-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and is a landmark asset with a total floor area of about 83,900㎡. It has secured strong tenants such as Microsoft, Woori Card, and Maeil Dairies, and is evaluated as an asset with stable rental income and a highly scarce, competitive location.
The market estimates the size of this transaction at around 1 trillion won. With the supply of tradable core assets limited in the Seoul office market recently, institutional investors' strong interest has continued, observers said. In particular, amid recovering investment sentiment for prime offices on expectations of rate cuts, the fact that it is a core CBD asset is seen as a factor driving demand.
IGIS Asset Management plans to negotiate detailed terms such as price, transaction structure, and investor recruitment with the seller during the preferred negotiation period. If talks conclude smoothly, it is expected to be recorded as one of the trillion-won transactions representing Seoul's office market this year.