PIA Asset Management Acquires 'Smart Food Yangji' Logistics Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do

Bird's-eye view of Yangji Logistics Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] PIA Asset Management, a specialist asset management company in alternative investments (AI), is acquiring the ‘Smart Food Network Yangji Logistics Center’ located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 11th, PIA Asset Management is forming a private equity fund called ‘PIA No.1 Specialized Private Real Estate Investment Company (PIA No.1)’ to acquire the Smart Food Network Yangji Logistics Center. The acquisition price is reported to be around 100 billion KRW.

This logistics center is located at 915 Yangji-ri, Yangji-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province. PIA Asset Management plans to purchase the logistics center land and the above-ground logistics center and then promote a leasing business. The logistics center’s rental income will be shared with the fund investors.

The acquisition payment consists of private equity fund investment capital and loans. To finance the acquisition, PIA Asset Management borrowed 50.6 billion KRW from a special purpose company (SPC) established under the management of KB Securities. The loan maturity is three years with a lump-sum repayment condition at maturity, but early repayment is also possible.

During the financing process, the logistics center land and buildings were provided as collateral for the loan. According to the priority of collateral and repayment, the lenders were divided into senior loans of 43.1 billion KRW and subordinated loans of 7.5 billion KRW.

An IB industry official said, "With the expansion of e-commerce, demand for logistics centers is steadily increasing," and added, "The trend of investment institutions expanding investments in logistics centers that are safe and profitable in the COVID-19 era is expected to continue."