Goldman Sachs Moves into Japan Property Market

From Staff Reports

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has its sights set on Japan.

Goldman and New York-based Aetos Capital LLC have joined forces and are looking to buy Japanese property company Simplex Investment Advisors for the equivalent of about $1.1 billion to $1.35 billion - a premium of about 65%. The bid is for at least 80% of Simplex, and it appears that Nikko Cordial, part of Citigroup Inc. (C) in Japan, is selling its 42.5% stake to the venture.

Goldman Sachs has raised over $4 billion this year for property acquisitions. Japan experienced a property bubble of its own back in the late 1980s, and it's only been in the past few years that the outlook for that market has improved. Goldman has been acquiring commercial and recreational properties in Japan for more than a decade, but this would mark a much-bigger move into the property market.

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