IDERA appoints CEO for expansion drive

IDERA Capital Management, the boutique Japanese private equity real estate firm, has appointed Takuya Yamada as the chief executive officer as it seeks to grow its platform.

Yamada is understood to have come aboard last week. He joined from Invesco Real Estate.

In a statement announcing the hire, IDERA said that Yamada is expected to further accelerate IDERA’s plan to expand its business as Fosun Property’s real estate platform in Japan.

It was in May last year that Fosun Capital, the asset management arm of the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Fosun Group, acquired IDERA Capital Management, marking its first investment in the Japanese property market.

Mikihisa Hirai, chairman of IDERA Capital Management told PERE in an email response that Yamada is well positioned to bring IDERA to the next stage.

“Mr. Yamada has a superior track record in management of Japanese real estate platform ranging from acquisition, management and disposition from his days with AIG, which has transformed into Invesco as a result of the sale of the relevant Japan platform. He is also very experienced in other markets including other Asian countries,” he said.

With over 30 years of real estate investment management experience, Yamada has been at the helm of acquisition activities totalling more than ¥1.3 trillion (€10.16 billion; $10.71 billion) over the past 16 years, including the foundation of a J-REIT. He was previously the managing director, head of Japan and Asia Pacific at Invesco. He also worked for AIG Global Real Estate Japan before it was acquired by Invesco, and spent five years with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

In another senior hire, the firm has also appointed Kazunori Hayamizu as managing director, head of acquisitions. Hayamizu, who came on board last month, was previously the head of real estate investment for J-Will Partners, a Tokyo-based private equity fund. He has more than 24 years of real estate investment management experience.

In September last year, Fosun made its first direct real estate investment in Japan through IDERA, with the acquisition of the Citigroup Centre Building in a deal valued between $100 million to $150 million.