This deal caught my eye not just because of its size, but because it involves the Government of Singapore. One thing I've been wondering lately is whether the sovereign funds that have been making huge investments in the financial sector might also raise their allocations for real estate in the U.S. The stat I heard today is that foreign investors doubled their share of the U.S. market last year (from 2 percent to 4 percent). An issue, though, is the falling U.S. dollar. It seems like it would objectively be a good time for foreign investment in U.S. assets. But it doesn't look as good if the dollar's collapse wipes out any of the potential upside of the investment.
ING Real Estate and GIC Real Estate, the property arm of the Government of Singapore, said on Tuesday they bought the Roma Est Shopping Centre for 400 million euros in Italy's record single-asset retail property deal.Each party has bought a 50 percent stake in the property from Italian food-retailing leader Gruppo PAM.
Roma Est Shopping Centre, one of the largest shopping centres in Italy, comprises around 92,700 square metres of gross lettable area. It is about 14 kilometres to the east of the city centre.
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