CBRE Capital Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor to Hong Kong-listed Gemini Investments — the investment arm of Sino-Ocean Land, also listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and one of the largest real estate companies in China — in its acquisition of Rosemont Realty LLC, an acquisition and asset management firm headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The resulting joint venture, Gemini-Rosemont Realty LLC (Gemini-Rosemont), will continue to own and manage Class A institutional-quality commercial office properties across the United States.
A substantial portion of Rosemont’s existing portfolio, comprised of 135 buildings and representing approximately 15.9 million square feet of commercial real estate across 22 states, will be transferred to Gemini Rosemont.
The existing Rosemont team will remain in place to run the operations of the joint venture.
CBRE Capital Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Gemini Investments, with teams in Asia and the U.S. working jointly on the transaction.
Canon Yau and Sharon Law, both directors for CBRE Capital Advisors, Asia Pacific, based in CBRE’s Hong Kong office, advised on the transaction working closely with James Scott and Damian Taylor of CBRE Capital Advisors’ office in New York.
James Scott, executive managing director and managing principal, CBRE Capital Advisors, commented, “The acquisition of a leading U.S. real estate fund platform is indicative of Asian investors looking for high quality partnerships in order to effectively deploy capital into U.S. commercial real estate.
“Investment in the U.S. real estate market continues to be very attractive to these investors due to strong underlying fundamentals, healthy macro-economic dynamics and a large, liquid, stable market.”
Nick Crockett, executive director, CBRE Capital Advisors, Asia Pacific commented, “Sino-Ocean Land and Gemini Investments together represent one of Asia Pacific’s leading commercial real estate platforms, possessing extensive capital and strategic long-term vision.
“We are delighted to have facilitated the strategic partnership between Gemini Investments and Rosemont Realty, as this venture presented the ideal opportunity for our client to leverage the extensive market coverage and domestic expertise of a fully integrated U.S. market leader, driving the company’s expansion into the US property market as part of its wider global capital deployment.”
In addition to Rosemont’s existing commercial assets, the team performed a thorough evaluation of Rosemont’s RREAF I portfolio and Legacy portfolio of office, retail and multifamily assets across 22 states in the U.S.
This reflects CBRE’s recently published report, The Expanding Role of Chinese Capital in Global Real Estate Market, which highlights the trend of Asian capital increasingly targeting investments in a wider range of geographies across a greater variety of asset types, and how opportunities can be best captured by linking up with local partners and working with global retained advisors.
