Tag: Goldman Sachs

Gaw Capital Consortium Buys HK Shopping Centers for $1.4bn

Gaw Capital Partners today announced that the firm, through a fund under its management, and consortium partners, including Goldman Sachs, have won a bid to acquire a retail portfolio comprising 12 shopping centers in Hong Kong from Link Asset Management Limited at HK$12.01 billion ($1.4 billion).

The portfolio is comprised of a number of strategically-located properties across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories that sit in the heart of densely-populated communities.

The GFA of the portfolio totals 1.1 million sq. ft. of prime retail space and comes with over 4,700 parking spaces that are connected to highly-convenient transport links.

“Their excellent accessibility and holistic shopping environments have made them attractive destinations for retailers and hubs of community life for residents,” Gaw said.

The shopping centers included in the portfolio are: Retail and Car Park within Ap Lei Chau Estate, Chun Shek Shopping Centre, Fortune Shopping Centre, King Lam Shopping Centre, Lei Tung Commercial Centre, Ming Tak Shopping Centre, Shan King Commercial Centre, Siu Hei Commercial Centre, Retail and Car Park within Tai Ping Estate, Wah Ming Shopping Centre, Wah Sum Shopping Centre, Wang Tau Hom (Wang Fai Centre).

“We and our partners are confident about Hong Kong’s future, and believe these malls will continue to serve important functions in the community. Followed by the bid we won together with our consortium partners to acquire 17 shopping malls in 2017, we will further leverage our experience to evolve these malls into refreshed and renewed centers of local life and collaborate with the local NGOs and existing tenants to build a better neighborhood for themselves,” Goodwin Gaw, Chairman and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, said.

It was not the first time for the Gaw Capital-led consortium to acquire assets from Link Reit. In November 2017, the same consortium bought 17 Hong Kong malls for HK$23 billion ($2.9 billion) from Link Reit.

“We worked closely with the community over the past 12 months and implemented a series of initiatives to better make use of these malls for the community. We look forward to applying our expertise in repositioning commercial property to add significant strategic value to this additional portfolio,” Kenneth Gaw, President and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, commented.

Gaw Capital has over 13 years of experience investing in and/or turning around commercial properties in Greater China, including Hong Kong. – AsiaPEVC.com

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Goldman Sachs Backs $55m Series C in Japanese Fintech Startup Paidy

Japanese financial technology (fintech) startup Paidy Inc has announced raising $55 million in a Series C funding round backed by Goldman Sachs. The latest round raised the startup’s total capital to $80 million.

In a statement, Paidy said the Series C was led by Japanese firm ITOCHU Corporation. It will use the fresh capital to launch large merchants, expand into the offline market, and offer additional financial services.

The fintech firm expects to grow its customer base to 11,000,000 accounts by 2020.

Paidy started Japan’s first instant post-pay credit service for ecommerce consumers in October 2014. It requires no pre-registration or credit card to use; Paidy consumers purchase products online using only a mobile phone number and email address (verification is established through a four-digit code via SMS or voice pin-code) and settle a single monthly bill for all their purchases, either at a convenience store, by bank transfer or auto debit.

The startup also also supports multi-pay installments and subscriptions. There are currently over 1,400,000 Paidy accounts in use (June 2018).

“We are extremely honored that Paidy’s business concept was highly valued by one of Japan’s most prestigious business conglomerates, ITOCHU. Through this tie-up, we expect to launch new merchants in order to deliver Paidy’s frictionless and intuitive financial solution to a much broader audience,” said Russell Cummer, Founder and Executive Chairman of Paidy.

Cummer added that Paidy now aims to promote its vision of removing barriers and creating unique consumer experiences to as many people as possible.

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On-demand Logistics Platform GoGoVan Raises $250m
South Korea’s ProtoPie Raises $3.5m in KIP-led Series A

Paidy has proved a powerful means of persuading first time buyers to transact online. Its proprietary models and machine learning mean that transactions are underwritten in seconds, with guaranteed payment to merchants.

Paidy increases merchant revenues by reducing incomplete transactions, increasing conversion rates, boosting average order values, and facilitating easy repeat buying.