BGO Sells Seoul Tech Hub Office Tower for $98.4 Million

BGO has agreed to sell the GB II office tower in Greater Seoul's Pangyo Techno Valley for KRW 131.5 billion ($98.4 million). This sale brings the Miami-based fund manager close to fully exiting a two-building investment it made less than four years ago.

The buyer is the streaming platform SOOP. According to a Yonhap report cited by Mingtiandi, SOOP disclosed the purchase late last week, with the balance due on 30 September. The company plans to fund the acquisition through internal resources and bank borrowings. SOOP intends to use the nine-storey property as its new headquarters and as a research and development centre.

This transaction follows the July sale of the neighbouring GB I building to Kyobo AIM Asset Management for KRW 306.5 billion. The combined sales consideration for both towers totals KRW 438 billion. That figure is 14 percent above the KRW 385 billion that BGO and its local partner EDN Investment Management paid for the pair in December 2022, before accounting for transaction costs. Seoul Property Insight reported that BGO and EDN had been pursuing a sale since last year.

Pangyo Market Dynamics

Corporate demand is driving activity in the Pangyo submarket. The game developer Nexon Korea has leased the entire GB I building acquired by Kyobo AIM. For its part, SOOP's purchase will allow it to consolidate management, technology, and business teams that had become dispersed. Local coverage indicates the streaming provider plans to begin relocating in the fourth quarter of this year and complete the move by the first quarter of 2028.

Pangyo's appeal to investors and tenants rests on strong tech-sector leasing demand and limited new office supply. JLL Korea managing director Chae Hun Chang highlighted these factors when advising on the GB towers' 2022 sale. "These are high-quality assets located in the most desirable office location in Pangyo Techno Valley, where leasing demand is high," Chang said at the time.

The recent sales follow other major transactions in the area. Last year, Mirae Asset Management sold the Pangyo Tech One Tower for KRW 2 trillion ($1.4 billion) to a consortium including Korea Investment & Securities and tenant KakaoBank. Advisor Cushman & Wakefield noted that deal set a record for South Korea's office market at the time.

Based on reported prices, the two GB buildings traded at different per-square-metre rates. The following table compares the key figures for the two assets:

BGO's Regional Investment Activity

The pending exit from Pangyo coincides with BGO expanding its holdings elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. The real estate investment arm of Canadian insurer Sun Life raised over $5.1 billion for its BGO Asia Fund IV and co-investment vehicles at a final closing announced in June last year. That Japan-focused strategy also targets South Korea, Australia, and Singapore.

In recent months, BGO has been active in multiple markets. Last month, a fund backed by BGO and Welkin Links Capital Group teamed with China Merchants Commercial REIT to acquire The Quad student residence in Hong Kong for HK$528.5 million ($67 million). The BGO-Welkin vehicle holds a 45 percent stake in that purchasing venture.

In July, BGO joined Investa and Cliffbrook Capital in agreeing to buy three Australian office properties from Dexus for A$715 million ($500.5 million). The firm is partnering with Cliffbrook to acquire two buildings on Hickson Road in Sydney and with Investa to purchase 123 Albert Street in Brisbane.

That Dexus agreement followed a $395 million office purchase in North Sydney in February and BGO's reported A$580 million acquisition of 10-20 Bond Street in Sydney's central business district in November 2024. The latest package adds more than 60,000 square metres of Grade A office space to BGO's Australian portfolio.

In Japan, BGO Strategic Capital Partners formed a venture with Weave Living in January to acquire 10 Tokyo apartment buildings valued at JPY 22 billion ($139 million). The partners bought the recently completed properties directly from a local developer.