Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC announced on Friday that it has acquired a logistics facility in Yokohama City developed by Japanese real estate developer Daiwa House Industry.
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. A Nikkei Asia report said GIC paid $400 million for the facility. GIC said the facility is located within the Kanagawa Prefecture, with access to the entire Greater Tokyo region.
The property was developed and completed by Daiwa House in 2022 as its flagship logistics facility. Currently fully occupied, the facility has modern building specifications that cater to a wide range of tenants, per the announcement.
It spans an area of more than 126,000 square metres and features seismic-base isolation for additional earthquake resistance. The facility was also designed to incorporate elements for social community engagement, such as an open deck space, a cafe, and a convenience store.
The acquisition follows GIC’s 2023 purchase of several logistics facilities developed by Daiwa House across Japan.
These include a portfolio of six warehouses across Japan, as well as three other warehouses developed and owned by Daiwa House in Yatomi City (Greater Nagoya), Takatsuki City (Greater Osaka), and Tosu City (Greater Fukuoka).
“GIC remains strongly committed to Japan’s real estate sector. Specifically for logistics, GIC expects demand for modern logistics spaces to continue to grow, driven by e-commerce and supply chain optimisation trends,” the sovereign wealth fund said.
The acquisition comes as GIC posted an annualised real rate of return of 3.9% for the 20-year period ended March 31, 2024, compared with 4.6% in the previous year, its annual report showed.
The growth, its main performance indicator, was slow since its 2.7% investment return in 2020. For the 20-year period from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2024, the annualised nominal return of GIC’s portfolio was 5.8%.
The sovereign wealth fund has over the past years been diversifying on a far more granular level to enhance the resilience of the total portfolio. This includes increasing its investments in infrastructure and real estate.
