Goldman shops at Tiffany’s

Goldman Sachs is reportedly close to buying Tiffany & Co.’s flagship property in Tokyo for $318m.

Reports Monday said that Goldman Sachs will by the landmark Tiffany’s high-end jewellery store in Tokyo for about $318 million (€233 million).

The Japanese business newspaper The Nikkei Sunday reported that the deal is now being finalized following a bidding auction for the property.

The flagship store is located in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping area, a busy street with high-end shops. Tiffany & Co. will lease the property following the transaction, the report said. Both Goldman Sachs Group and Tiffany & Co. declined to comment on the report.

The investment underscores the increasing attraction of the gradually rebounding real estate market in Japan. Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley acquired 13 hotels from All Nippon Airways for $2.42 billion. The deal nearly doubled the US bank’s hotel holdings in the country. In June, ING Real Estate acquired a shopping center in Morioka, a city in Japan’s North Honshu island. Earlier this month, Blackstone launched a dedicated real estate office in Tokyo.

Tiffany & Co. had reported strong growth for its first quarter results, with a 15 percent sales increase in domestic and international markets. However, retail sales in Japan, where Tiffany’s faces tough competition in the high-end jewellery market, fell two percent.