Brookfield gets ready for Shanghai rental project as China’s property distress creates opportunities to pick up discounted assets
- Canadian asset manager Brookfield is preparing to launch its Shanghai rental project after picking up assets on the cheap amid China’s property market distress
- Firm said to have picked up three towers in Shanghai in September at a 60 per cent discount, according to a local media report
Brookfield Asset Management plans to launch its first rental property in Shanghai after picking up assets on the cheap from distressed developers, as China pushes on with an aggressive act to control excessive debt in the industry.
The Canadian firm is preparing to offer 413 flats and 144 hotel rooms in the next six to eight months in China’s biggest commercial hub to capitalise on “really attractive risk-adjusted returns” in the current market cycle, it said.
“This opportunity really presents us with an initial beachhead to bring our multifamily business and expertise to China,” Stuart Mercier, managing partner and head of Asia based in Shanghai, said in an interview. The move was made possible by “the opportunity to acquire land and existing properties in more attractive cost bases,” he added.
The Toronto-based firm manages about US$750 billion of alternative assets, including US$106 billion in Asia-Pacific across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit strategies, according to its filings.
