The largest apartment operator in the U.S., Greystar, already has a presence internationally in Mexico and parts of Europe. But its footprint got a lot bigger Wednesday when it announced the signing of a letter of intent with Macquarie Capital to jointly form and capitalize a new Asia-Pacific rental housing platform called Greystar Asia-Pac.
Greystar Asia-Pac plans to raise institutional capital to acquire, develop, reposition, and manage rental residential assets across the region. The jointly owned venture between Greystar and Macquarie Capital under consideration would be Greystar’s and Macquarie Capital’s exclusive platform in the rental residential space in the Asia-Pacific region. Initial investment opportunities are being evaluated and anticipated to include assets in the Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, and Melbourne markets.
In a release announcing the deal, Greystar, which operates more than 400,000 rental units in 160 markets globally with an ownership interest in assets worth $14 billion, touted its already substantial presence on the world stage. “The expansion into the Asia-Pacific region advances Greystar’s successful international growth strategy – which includes current operations in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Latin America – and underscores a long-standing advisory relationship with Macquarie Capital,” the Charleston, S.C.-based company stated.
“My original vision when starting Greystar in the early 1990s was to build a blue chip company that could help professionalize the rental housing industry for institutional capital in the US,” said Bob Faith, founder and CEO of Greystar, in a release. “We view our opportunity in the Asia-Pacific as a natural extension of our original strategy and believe a partnership with Macquarie provides valuable regional experience and expertise. We intend to build the leading rental residential company within the major cities of the region.”
Macquarie Capital is the corporate advisory, capital markets, and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group, which operates in more than 65 office locations in 28 countries and has assets under management totaling $366 billion as of March 2016.
Chris Green, global head of real estate at Macquarie Capital, said in a release, “Macquarie Capital has a longstanding relationship with Greystar and we are very pleased to be working with Bob Faith and the high caliber Greystar team in expanding to the Asia-Pacific region. We continue to see deep demand from global institutional investors for multifamily and student accommodation real estate, and believe a combination of Greystar’s residential expertise and Macquarie Capital’s Asia-Pacific strength will be a successful platform.”
