LaSalle Asia Recovery Fund Fully Invested; Japan Logistics Fund Next

HONG KONG-With two recent sales here, LaSalle Investment Management has invested the last bit of equity in its Asia Recovery Fund. This milestone comes just a little more than two years since it completed fund-raising. The acquisitiveness now shifts to its year-old Japan Logistics Fund, for which $366 million in equity has been raised, while fundraising is already under way for its Asia Recovery encore: Asia Opportunity Fund II.Launched in 2000, the Asia Recovery Fund raised $242 million of equity from major pension funds, corporations and institutions from the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. The Asia Recovery Fund leveraged its equity into $600 million and acquired 12 properties in Japan, Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong. LaSalle now estimates the funds current total investment value is closer to $800 million. “…We’ve already sold three of our initial acquisitions at significant premiums to their purchase prices,” says LaSalle Investment Management Asia Pacific chief executive Jack Chandler in a prepared statement. The most recently acquired properties for the fund are both located in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong. They will be used primarily for cold storage logistic purposes by the tenant, Brilliant Cold Storage Management Limited. While the attention for the Asia Recovery Fund turns to dispositions, acquisitions will ramp up for the Japan Logistics Fund. LaSalle completed fund-raising in December with commitments from more than 20 pension funds, corporations and institutions. The fund will leverage its $366 million of equity into about $1.46 billion (150 billion yen) of modern logistics facilities in key distribution centers throughout Japan. As with the Asia Recovery Fund, LaSalle’s own investment in the fund totals $12 million.Opportunity Fund II has its sights set on $500 million in equity, which would allow it to acquire approximately $2 billion of assets. The strategy for the fund is to emulate the successful approach of the Asia Recovery Fund. It will focus on value-added activities with a primary regional focus in North Asia (Japan, Greater China and Korea).LaSalle Investment Management Inc. is a member of the publicly traded Jones Lang LaSalle group. LIM has approximately $26 billion of assets under management.