This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ONE of Japan’s largest real estate developers, the Tokyu Land Corporation, is looking to enter Australia as part of its global expansion in various international cities.
TLC is the primary commercial real estate development and investment arm of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Corporation (TFHD), which has total assets of approximately S$32 billion with projects.
TLC established a Singapore subsidiary, Tokyu Land Asia Pte Ltd (TLA) in 2018 and is now ready to expand its global presence.
Masaoki Kanematsu, operating officer in charge of overseas business of TLC and executive director of TLA, said although the attention at present is on containing the spread of COVID-19 and the recovery of the global economy, the company views expanding globally as “an absolute necessity”.
“We view our globalisation as an absolute necessity, as most exciting growth opportunities lie beyond Japan. Our present strategy is to leverage on the rising affluence in Asia, and the steady economic growth in the United States to aggressively expand our geographical footprint by acquiring and developing office and apartments in those cities.
“By replicating our successful business model, we hope to expand our global presence in Europe and Australia in time to come,”
Kanematsu said Singapore will serve as a hub to accelerate TLC’s foray into various international cities, including markets in Asia, Europe, Australia and more.
Since its founding in 1953, TLC has come a long way by expanding into China, Indonesia and the US.
In the US, it has presence in 10 cities including New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles, by aggressively acquiring and developing offices, logistics and apartments over the past few years.
Kanematsu the expansion ensured flexibility in its operations and portfolio, such as shifting its revenue model from sales to the leasing business in the 1990s after the collapse of the bubble economy, the company was able to quickly adapt to overcome several major crises such as the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-08 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
Furthermore, TLC established listed and private real estate investment trusts as well as real estate private funds.
“TLC has grown tremendously with these funds and REITs since their establishment. Our aim is to establish a global fund and REIT platform which enables us to achieve capital recycling beyond the Japan market and put us further on the path towards global growth. Additionally, we wish to offer global investors the opportunity to partner with us to invest in valuable real estate assets outside of Japan.” Kanematsu added.
“As with many other businesses, 2020 has proven to be a challenging year, where TLC’s core foundation was put to the test. Despite such challenges, its strategy of being flexible and adaptable has once again proven fruitful and allowed it to overcome yet another crisis.
“The company expects the coming year to be another difficult year with many headwinds, with the most pertinent being recovery from the impact of COVID-19.
“Backed by TFHD, the company will continue to be on the lookout for opportunities for new business and global growth, while innovating our business model to keep up with changing times and social conditions. TLA, the investment arm of TLC in Singapore, continues to aim to expand the group’s presence globally,” concluded Kanematsu.
