Singapore's GIC Said to Invest in Time Warner Center in New York

GIC Pte, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, is part of a group that is buying the headquarters of Time Warner Inc. in New York City, according to one person with direct knowledge of the transaction.

The investment is similar to the state fund's purchase of San Francisco's 101 California Street building through another group last year, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. GIC declined to comment on the transaction in an e-mailed statement.

GIC has been increasing investments in real estate that makes up 10 percent of the fund's more than $100 billion of assets. After the purchase in downtown San Francisco, the state fund signed an agreement last month to buy a 47-storey office tower in Jakarta that will also include a St. Regis hotel.

'Assets like Time Warner Center are absolutely core and trophy in nature,' said Priyaranjan Kumar, the Singapore-based regional director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. 'Ownership in such assets assures investors of a durability of cash flows as these kind of properties always outperform the market during phases of recovery and prove very resilient even in downturns.'

Keith Cocozza, a spokesman for Time Warner, couldn't be reached for a comment in his New York office after business hours.

Time Warner would sell its 1.1 million-square-foot space at its namesake complex to an investment group led by Related Cos. for more than $1.3 billion and lease it back for five years, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said in July.

Leaseback Agreement

Joanna Rose, a spokeswoman for Related, which was the lead developer of Time Warner Center, declined to comment today on GIC's investments.

Located at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, the property is a 2.8 million-square-foot twin tower development that includes offices, restaurants and the Mandarin Oriental hotel, according to its website. The property adjacent to Central Park was opened in 2004 and attracts more than 16 million visitors a year, it said.

GIC's U.S. assets increased to 36 percent of its portfolio as of March, from 33 percent a year earlier, the fund said in August. The U.S. economy was 'furthest along' in recovering from the global financial crisis, it said at the time.

'Sovereign wealth funds by nature are relatively risk averse and seek steady long-term income,' Kumar said. 'This translates into seeking investment opportunities that are largely insulated from vacancy or construction risks.'

Singapore's Business Times newspaper reported the transaction earlier today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Klaus Wille in Singapore at kwille@bloomberg.net; Pooja Thakur in Singapore at pthakur@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net

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