ASIA NEWS: Shanghai for starters

Having long invested in core real estate markets in the West, the National Pension Service (NPS) of Korea is now scouring for more opportunities in the East. Last month, it emerged that the $320 billion state investment fund had acquired Central Plaza, a 19-story office tower in Shanghai’s central business district, in a deal valued at $267 million. It was the first transaction for a $500 million separate account, awarded by NPS to The Carlyle Group, focused on acquiring real state in China considered to have a core-plus to value-added risk profile. None of the parties involved would comment.