http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-09...l-pie.html
AMP Capital Investors Ltd., with more than A$17.4 billion ($15.3 billion) in property assets, is seeking to partner with Chinese shopping center owners to take advantage of an expanding middle class and transition to a consumer-led economy.
The tie-ups could range from initially providing advisory services to mainland mall developers to ultimately investing in real estate, said Simon Vinson, head of Asian property at AMP Capital. It’s also open to acquiring or partnering with companies with interests in Chinese retail assets, he said.
“The China retail sector is a very attractive long-term investment play for global institutional clients,” Vinson said yesterday in an interview in Sydney. “We see opportunities to acquire non-performing assets in good locations, good catchment areas, with good access to public transport facilities and limited effective competition.”
China accounted for 73 percent of commercial property investments in Asia in the first half of 2014, according to a Sept. 18 report by broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Cities across Greater China are the most attractive Asia-Pacific region locations for international retailers, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said in June. Retail sales in the world’s second-largest economy will rise at least 12 percent in each of the next three years, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
AMP Capital in September 2013 said it would partner with China Life Insurance Co., the nation’s largest insurer, to set up a funds management company targeting Chinese investors. The joint venture started off investing in domestic listed equities and fixed income, it said in a statement at the time.