Singapore's GIC to buy Tokyo office tower for $1.6b: Reuters

Japan’s biggest property transaction since the GFC.

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund is looking at buying a Tokyo office tower for about $1.6 billion in what would be Japan's biggest property transaction since the financial crisis, according to Reuter’s sources.

Reuters reports that Singapore's GIC Pte, which already has a large presence in Japan's property market, outbid the asset management unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which also participated in the final bid for the property, which was put up for sale by Secured Capital, part of Asian private equity firm PAG.

GIC is in the final stages of talks over the 32-storey Pacific Century Place Marunouchi, located near Tokyo's main railway station.

Secured Capital put the property up for sale in May, seeking more than 180 billion yen. The final price will likely fall short of the target but the transaction would still likely be the biggest since Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took aggressive measures to end deflation.

View the full report here.