Gaw Capital Partners Announces Creation of New US Entity, Gaw Capital US

HONG KONG, Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Gaw Capital Partners has announced the creation of a new US entity, Gaw Capital US. Gaw Capital US will manage the new real estate funds and provide investment advisory while Gaw Capital Partners' existing US associate, Downtown Properties, will continue to co-exist alongside Gaw Capital US as its asset management partner. Gaw Capital US was created in order to spur growth in the US market – while creating an even stronger operational structure. Gaw Capital Partners has also announced that Timothy Walsh has joined Gaw Capital US as President and Chief Operating Officer. In this newly-created position, Walsh will oversee US operations and increase the firm's investments in US real estate. Walsh joins Gaw Capital US from the New Jersey Division of Investment where he served as Chief Investment Officer and director of New Jersey's USD$ 74 billion pension fund. Gaw Capital Partners and its management team in Hong Kong and Shanghai will continue to focus its energy on investment opportunities in Greater China and Asia Pacific while Timothy Walsh and his team at Gaw Capital US will develop the US market.

Gaw Capital US is the new entity of Gaw Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity real estate fund management company with a strong geographic focus on Greater China and the Asian real estate markets in the past. Gaw Capital Partners currently manages four real estate funds targeting the Greater China and Asia Pacific region, while the newly-created Gaw Capital US provides services for separate account direct investment and private equity real estate fund management in the US and UK markets.  

"I'm honored to join Gaw Capital US - my focus will be on developing US operations," said Timothy Walsh. "While the firm is already widely-respected for its successful operations in China and the Asia region, the new team that I will be leading at Gaw Capital US will specifically direct its resources on growth in the US market. While Gaw Capital has experience in US real estate through its associate Downtown Properties, the new entity Gaw Capital US will provide an even stronger and clearer platform for growth in the US."

Gaw Capital US plans on raising a US Fund in the fourth quarter of 2013 with targeted fund size of USD 300 – 500 million.  The main strategy for the fund will be value creation through design, creative repositioning, and redevelopment with a special angle at creative office and creative hospitality redevelopments in urban locations. With Walsh's contact and Gaw's existing client base globally, the investor base for the US fund will likely cover both Asia and North America.  Gaw Capital US will also continue to provide out-bound investment advisory service to Asian institutional investors. 

Goodwin Gaw, Chairman and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, commented, "we are extremely pleased to welcome Timothy Walsh as the President and COO of Gaw Capital US. I am grateful for his confidence in our growing platform to make this important move to us. Timothy has deep experience, a proven track record and the respect of his investment industry peers and will help us lead our US operations into the future."

Gaw Capital Partners' management already has experience in investing in US real estate projects. Downtown Properties Holdings, the US real estate associate of Gaw Capital Partners, has been acquiring and managing real estate investments in the United States since 1991. Its portfolio in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Hawaii comprises over 2.5 million sq ft of office buildings, hotels with over 1,000 rooms, two 18-hole championship golf courses, a ski resort and three residential redevelopment projects. Downtown Properties won international acclaim for its restoration and repositioning of the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which is now one of the trendiest hotels in Los Angeles, and has been involved in the revitalization and transformation of a series of historically significant buildings dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries in downtown Los Angeles. Downtown Properties has also been managing a club investment vehicle for strategic Asian investors since 2012, targeting major cities in the west coast and other key metropolitan hubs in the US. 

In recent years, Gaw Capital and Downtown Properties have been providing global direct investment services to strategic Asian institutional investors. Notable transactions include 333 Market Street in San Francisco in 2010, Three First National Plaza in Chicago in 2011, Vintners' Place in London in 2012, and the Lloyd's building in London in 2013.  In addition to leading the acquisitions process (including due diligence), Gaw Capital also provides debt financing advising and asset management in such transactions.

About Gaw Capital Partners

Gaw Capital Partners is a uniquely positioned private equity fund management company that focuses in real estate markets in greater China and other high barrier-to-entry markets.

Specialising in adding strategic value to under-utilised real estate through redesign and repositioning, the firm's investments span the entire spectrum of real estate sectors, including residential development, commercial offices, retail malls, serviced apartments, and hotels. Gaw Capital Partners runs an integrated business model with its own in-house asset management operating platforms in retail, hospitality and property development.

Gaw Capital Partners currently manages four real estate funds targeting the Greater China and Asia Pacific region, while the newly-created Gaw Capital US provides services for separate account direct investment and private equity real estate fund management in the US and UK markets.  Gaw Capital Partners has raised equity in excess of US$3.2 billion since 2005 and currently commands assets of US$ 6.6 billion under management encompassing residential developments, retails centers, hotels and commercial properties.

http://www.gawcapital.com

For enquiries, please contact:

GAW Capital
Sylvia Lee ([email protected])

Weber Shandwick
Adam J. Steinberg
Tel: 86-19-8569-9964   
Email: [email protected]          

SOURCE Gaw Capital Partners