There's more to Anbang story than just meets the eye

By Li Xiang (China Daily) Updated: 2015-02-03 07:44

Related stories:

Dalian Wanda to invest $1b for prime property development in Sydney by Agencies

Dalian Wanda Group, China's biggest commercial real estate conglomerate, said on Jan 26 that it is investing $1 billion in a prime property development close to Sydney Harbour, its second large investment in Australia.

The amount includes A$415 million ($327 million) paid to the United States-based private equity firm Blackstone Group for office building Gold Fields House, an undisclosed sum for an adjacent building, Fairfax House, as well as the cost to construct a complex that will consist of a hotel, apartments and retail projects.

The purchase adds to a string of deals as Wanda diversifies away from a weak domestic market and highlights growing Chinese investment in Australia's red-hot property market.

Australia was the third top destination for Chinese property investment after the US and the United Kingdom in the first 11 months of 2014, with around $2.1 billion in inbound investment, according to real estate consultancy firm Savills.

China's Country Garden Holdings and Greenland Group have also made large investments in Australia.

Wanda is backed by China's fourth-richest man Wang Jianlin and last year the group's Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd raised $3.7 billion through a Hong Kong listing.

"We look forward to creating a new Sydney landmark," Wanda said in a separate statement from Blackstone, adding that the complex will include a 185-meter tall building.

Ping An buys landmark Tower Place in London by Zheng Yangpeng, China Daily

Ping An Life Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd has acquired another landmark site in London, after it bought the Lloyds of London building a year and half ago, highlighting Chinese insurers' growing appetite for trophy real estate in international gateway cities after the sector was given freedom to invest overseas since 2012.

The second-largest insurer in China has bought Tower Place in the City of London for 327 million pounds ($491 million), the seller, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, said on Thursday night. Ping An did not respond to calls for comment on Friday.

Tower Place was designed by renowned architect Norman Foster and is in the heart of London's insurance district. The anchor tenant of the low-rise office and shopping complex is the United States-based insurance consultancy Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc, according to a statement by Gaw Capital Partners, the Hong-Kong-based private-equity firm that advised Ping An on the deal.