DL E&C Signs Developer Business Agreement with Maston Investment Management

Kwon Sooyoung, Head of Housing Business Division at DL E&C (center), Kim Daehyung, CEO of Marston Investment Management (right), and Kim Daewon, CEO of Marston DI (left) are posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] DL E&C announced on the 17th that it has signed a "Business Agreement to Strengthen Developer Business" together with Maston Investment Management and Maston DI. Through this agreement, the three companies plan to cooperate to discover developer businesses in various fields such as housing, offices, and data centers.

Maston Investment Management is a leading domestic real estate asset management company with cumulative managed assets reaching 32 trillion KRW. It operates real estate funds, project financing, and REITs businesses. It is rapidly growing by conducting various projects not only in Korea but also in global markets including Europe and the United States. Maston DI is a real estate development specialist company responsible for executing development projects.

This business agreement was promoted to effectively respond to the economic downturn in the real estate and asset markets and interest rate hikes, and to discover high value-added developer businesses. DL E&C will be responsible for consulting and construction work for development projects. Maston Investment Management will handle the establishment of joint development corporations and asset management, while Maston DI will be responsible for executing development projects.

Until now, it has been common for construction companies to make partial indirect investments in funds raised by asset management companies or newly established corporations, or to only handle construction. However, this agreement is characterized by construction companies and asset management companies acting as developers and partners, jointly investing and developing projects from the early stages.

DL E&C and Maston Investment Management are already jointly investing in the development project of the site of the Daejeon Say Department Store main branch since last May. In the future, they plan to focus on discovering joint investment projects in the metropolitan area and major metropolitan cities. They also plan to expand development projects to various uses such as offices, commercial facilities, and data centers, in addition to housing.

Kwon Soo-young, Head of Housing Business Division at DL E&C, said, "DL E&C is undergoing a transformation into a total solution provider responsible for the entire process from project discovery, planning, equity investment, financial procurement, construction, to operation, moving beyond simple construction. We expect this business agreement to expand our scope into various fields."