ALLIANZ Real Estate has formed a joint venture (JV) with Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund III to acquire an 85% interest in Ronsin Technology Center, an international grade A office complex in Beijing completed in March 2018, at a valuation of approximately one billion euros. The JV is a continuation of Allianz’s investment strategy to allocate 50-60% of its Asia-Pacific real estate exposure to fast-growing markets such as China and India.

Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund III is a fund managed by Alpha Investment Partners, the private fund management arm of Keppel Capital. Allianz will have 62% share in the JV and is also one of the investors in the fund, with the seller, D&J China, retaining the remaining 15% interest.

The asset, located above the Laiguangying subway station in the sub-district of Wangjing, comprises six office towers and two retail podiums with a total leasable area of approximately 131,000 sqm. It is currently in the stabilization phase with an occupancy rate of 70%.

Beijing is demonstrating strong resilience to current volatility in the global markets while Wangjing is a well-established sub-market for domestic unicorn and technology companies which is experiencing persistent demand with tight supply.

This will be the second direct office acquisition by Allianz in Beijing. In 2018, Allianz acquired a 98% interest in ZLink, a grade A office asset located in Zhongguancun.

The sale and purchase agreement as well as the JV agreement have been executed, with the transaction expected to close in Q4 2019. The asset will be jointly managed by Allianz Real Estate, Alpha Investment Partners and D&J China.

“After Duo Tower in Singapore, this is the second investment where Allianz Real Estate is the joint asset manager. Over the last year, we have expanded our team through the hire of several China experts to enable us to manage our growing book of China assets directly,” says Rushabh Desai, Asia-Pacific CEO of Allianz Real Estate.

Sun Dong Ping, chief executive officer of D&J China, says, “We are very proud of Ronsin Technology Center, which has become one of the landmark assets in the Wangjing sub-market, and we are very pleased to enter into this strategic partnership with Allianz and Alpha Investment Partners.”