이 기사는 2020년 02월 21일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s financial conglomerate Mirae Asset Group is slowing its pace of investing in real estate, as a backlog of existing investments in the sector underscores the risk of limiting its ability to respond to other attractive investment opportunities.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Group, is expected to finally complete the acquisition of 15 luxury hotels in major cities in the U.S. from China’s Anbang Insurance Group in March, a deal signed last September with a transaction value of more than $5.8 billion, sources closed to the matter said on Tuesday.

With the end of the transaction coming in sight, the Seoul-based firm is said to have tapped several potential investors last month ahead of entering into a sell down process.

Domestic institutional investors, however, appear to be uncertain about the attractiveness of investing in the firm’s new real estate portfolio, especially in terms of the price. Several unsuccessful attempts of late by other financial firms to resell their stakes in overseas properties have also made investors more cautious.

“Mirae Asset is emphasizing that its acquisition price was relatively cheaper, but many in the industry seemingly do not agree,” an industry insider said, adding that more things need to be identified through due diligence.

Amid weakened sentiment, Mirae Asset Group has recently lowered the upper limit of principal investments in the real estate sector significantly to force its affiliates to refrain from new investments, a move seen as proactively responding to potentially weak investor demand for equity interests in overseas properties currently owned by its affiliates.

The acquisition costs for the 15 hotels have been funded by several affiliates of the group. Mirae Asset Daewoo provided more than quarter of the total, with the remaining amount funded by other key affiliates including Mirae Asset Life Insurance and Mirae Asset Global Investments.

A failure to resell its equity interests in a timely manner would result in liquidity issues for the group, increasing the risk of missing attractive investment opportunities in the future. Indeed, Mirae Asset Daewoo, on its book, is still carrying some equity interests in overseas properties – including Majunga Tower in France, which it acquired in partnership with Amundi Real Estate last summer.

“Mirae Asset has significantly lowered the limit for equity investments in real estate ahead of completing its acquisition of the U.S. hotels,” an industry insider said. “It practically has ceased investing in domestic real estate properties, and its investments in overseas alternatives are also expected to be reduced significantly.”

(By reporter Jo Se-hun)