Taiwanese investor Shin Kong Life has set its sights on London for a £750m acquisition spree.
The company is the latest in a wave of Taiwanese insurance firms to launch an overseas real estate strategy following the introduction of new regulatory rules by Taipei’s Financial Supervisory Commission. It has awarded an exclusive mandate to JLL to source deals.
It is likely to be the third of Taiwan’s top insurance companies to enter the UK market, following Cathay Life and Fubon Life, which have both completed multiple large acquisitions in the past 12 months.
CBRE has been advising Cathay Life, which this week closed the £575m acquisition of the Walbrook Building, EC4, while Fubon has an informal mandate with Savills, although the firm’s latest acquisition – the £330m purchase of Madame Tussauds’ London home on Marylebone Road, NW1 – is being undertaken via investment manager Patrizia.
Shin Kong Life, together with the next wave of Taiwanese buyers including Nan Shan and the Taipei-based subsidiary of China Life, are expected to target slightly smaller lot sizes of between £80m and £200m.
Shin Kong Life is part of the T$2.4tn (£50bn) Shin Kong Financial Group headed by billionaire Eugene Wu, Taiwan’s 15th-richest man, according to Forbes.
The company traces its roots back to 1945 when the Shin Kong Store, a textiles and commodities exporter, was established by Wu Ho-Su.
Its parent company was listed on Taiwan’s main stock exchange in 2002.
