Donuimun D Tower (Courtesy of DL Group) South Korea’s NongHyup Financial Group Inc. (NH Financial) is poised to acquire landmark office building Donuimun D Tower for about 900 billion won ($650.1 million), people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Seoul-based Mastern Investment Management has named NongHyup REITs Management Co. (NH REITs) as the preferred bidder for the tower, which is valued at 10.6 million won per square meter, banking industry sources said.
NH REITs has beaten five competitors in the bid, including a consortium led by IGIS Asset Management Co. and the Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA).
Donuimun D Tower is a prime office tower with 26 above-ground floors and seven below ground, with 86,268 square meters of floor area. It is located in the Seodaemun area of Seoul, 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Central Business District.
Mastern acquired the building for 650 billion won in 2020 via its private real estate fund, in which NH Financial invested as a limited partner. Its office space has been leased out to Korean mid-sized conglomerate DL Group and its major affiliates such as construction firm DL E&C Co., DL Chemical and DL Energy Co.
NH Financial is expanding its real estate assets in the Seodaemun area, where its headquarters and those of its affiliates such as NongHyup Bank, NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and NongHyup Life Insurance Co. are located.
Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu at hwahwa@hankyung.com Jihyun Kim edited this article.