Gaw Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity real estate fund management firm, has completed a $540-million acquisition of seven fully-leased warehouses in Japan from Wall Street juggernaut Blackstone.

Purchased through a fund under its management, Gaw’s first logistics portfolio in Japan has a combined net lettable area of 253,200 square metres spanning across the Greater Tokyo area, including Chiba, Joso, Hasuda, Hashimoto, Atsugi, and Ashikaga, according to a statement on Thursday.

The assets will undergo value-add play, which includes cold storage conversion, proactive asset management, and ESG initiatives. 

“We also see strong value-add potential in several properties across the portfolio, which will be unleashed by Gaw Capital with our experience and track record across other APAC regions,” said Joseph Chan, Managing Director, Principal of Investments, at Gaw Capital.

“Responding to Japan’s rising demand for cold storage facilities, our value-add strategy will include capturing the opportunity in this niche market by bringing in our expertise in recent successful cold storage conversions regionally.”  

Gaw first expanded into logistics real estate in 2014 in China and has added over 4 million square metres in its portfolio since then. The group also owns and manages logistics assets in Australia and Vietnam.