BGO exits Pangyo office investment with KRW 131.5B sale of GB II to SOOP
BGO has agreed to sell the GB II office tower in Pangyo Techno Valley to streaming platform SOOP for KRW 131.5 billion ($98.4 million). The deal, due to settle on 30 September, follows July’s sale of neighbouring GB I and completes the fund manager’s exit from a two-building investment made in Decem
BGO has agreed to sell the GB II office tower in Greater Seoul’s Pangyo Techno Valley for KRW 131.5 billion ($98.4 million), bringing the Miami-based fund manager close to exiting a two-building investment made less than four years ago.
The buyer, streaming platform SOOP, disclosed the purchase late last week, with the balance due on 30 September and funding to come from internal resources and bank borrowings, Yonhap reported. SOOP plans to use the property as its headquarters and as a research and development centre.
The deal follows July’s sale of neighbouring GB I to Kyobo AIM Asset Management for KRW 306.5 billion. The combined consideration of KRW 438 billion would be 14 per cent above the KRW 385 billion that BGO paid for the pair in December 2022, before accounting for costs.
BGO and local partner EDN Investment Management have been pursuing a sale since last year, according to Seoul Property Insight. A BGO representative did not respond to Mingtiandi’s request for comment.
Completed in 2011, the nine-storey GB II stands at 25 Pangyo-ro 256beon-gil in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, south of Seoul. The building and the 11-storey GB I span a combined 57,680 square metres (620,862 square feet), with the original acquisition structured as a transfer of all beneficiary interests in an EDN-managed fund, according to JLL’s announcement of the 2022 transaction.
SOOP’s purchase will allow the company to bring together management, technology and business teams, along with major affiliates, whose offices have become dispersed as its operations expanded. The streaming provider plans to begin relocating in the fourth quarter of this year and complete the consolidation by the first quarter of 2028, per local coverage.
Corporate demand also underpinned the GB I disposal, with game developer Nexon Korea leasing the entire building acquired by Kyobo AIM. GB I traded at KRW 7.87 million per square metre, according to local market data, compared with KRW 7.08 million per square metre for GB II, based on SPI’s reported price.
