ASIA FUND OF FUNDS FIRM OF THE YEAR 1. CBRE Investors 2. Partners Group 3. uBs Global Asset Management One of the jewels of ING REIM is its Asia business. CBRE Investors will no doubt regard that a key driver behind its forthcoming cor- porate takeover of the real estate fund group, as its direct fund exposure to Asia to date has been limited. Its multi-manager business, however, is clearly highly rated. Of all the funds of funds in the market in Asia in 2010, the platform, led out of London by Jeremy Plummer, has been the only one to reach a final closing. Furthermore, its Asia Alpha Plus fund, the second of its FoFs for Asia, exceeded its capital-raising target by almost $70 million, finally closing in July on $269 million. According to Plummer, one of the major draws for Asia Alpha Plus was the pre-identification of underlying funds with which it wanted to invest. J-curve fighting he called it, explaining that just one month on from final closing the vehicle was 80 percent invested in existing funds. Rather than provide blind capital, CBRE Investors opted instead to buy out secondary positions or provide additional equity to funds that already were well into executing their strategies. One example: Fortress Japan Opportunity Fund, winner of <strong>PERE</strong>’s Asia Fundraise of the Year award. Looks like winners can sift out other winners. ASIA DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 1. HSBC 2. sumitomo Mitsui Banking 3. iCBCi international HSBC was quite active in 2010 in providing debt solution to real estate companies in Asia. The bank was particularly active in Regulation S offerings, which are sales made outside the US without registration. Among the bank’s notable deals was a Reg. S $500 million fixed-rate notes issue for New World Development, which was the first US dollar issue of 2010 in Hong Kong. The bank also led a Reg. S $500 million fixed-rate notes issue for Shimao Property Holdings and a Reg. S $600 million fixed-rate notes issue for Hongkong Land Company. Beyond just standard Reg. S offerings, HSBC also placed a few such deals privately under 144A rules. Most notably, the bank led a $300 million Reg. S /144A offering of fixed-rate notes for the Yanlord Land Group and a $200 million Reg. S /144A issue of fixed-rate notes for Powerlong Real Estate Holdings. But HSBC saved its biggest and best deal for last, wrapping up the year with a Reg. S $1 billion fixed-rate notes issue for China Overseas Land & Investment. 24 <strong>PERE</strong> | 2010 AwArds & AnnuAl review Plummer: can smell a winner ASIA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (TRANSACTIONS) 1. Baker & McKenzie 2. Haynes & Boone 3. Paul Hastings A newcomer to the Global <strong>PERE</strong> Awards, Baker & McKenzie gained its title as Asia Law Firm of the Year for transactions on the strength of several noteworthy deals and good overall volume. In fact, the Chicago-based law firm advised on transactions with a total deal value of approximately $5 billion in the Asia-Pacific region last year. Notable transactions included advising CapitaLand China (RE) Holdings in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Orient Overseas Developments and working with the Gandel Group on its participation in the Charter Hall Group’s capital-raising effort to purchase Macquarie Group’s core real estate management platform for a total of A$297 million ($301.5 million; €220 million). Baker & McKenzie also advised the Hong Kong Housing Society on its HK$1.325 billion ($170 million; €124 million) purchase of the Fortis Centre, a 32-story Grade A office located in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. In other significant deals, Baker & McKenzie advised La- Salle Investment Management, on behalf of the LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund III, on its A$140 million purchase of the landmark Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel. The firm also advised LaSalle on the purchase of an office building at 179 Elizabeth Street in Sydney for A$95 million. Both transactions were firsts for LaSalle in Australia. ASIA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (FUND FORMATION) 1. Clifford Chance 2. Baker & McKenzie 3. Paul Hastings After getting bumped from the top spot last year by Mayer Brown, Clifford Chance is back as Asia Law Firm of the Year for fund formation. Part of the firm’s allure to local GPs is the fact that it is one of the few firms in the region to have a dedicated funds team in Singapore, which is an important fund structuring jurisdiction. Some examples of Clifford Chance’s Asia fund assignments included advising Phoenix Property Advisors on the establishment of its Asia Real Estate Investments IV fund and advising Winnington Capital on the establishment of its Trophy Property Development II fund. Winnington held an initial closing in June and is targeting aggregate commitments of $1 billion by the third quarter of 2011. Clifford Chance also worked on Prax Capital’s first fund focused exclusively on real estate. That fund, Prax Capital Fund III, will target real estate projects in China.
<strong>AnnuAL</strong> <strong>REVIEW</strong>