Gaw Capital Appoints Head of Korea and Infrastructure – Mingtiandi

Hyun-Chan Cho is now head of Korea and of infrastructure for Gaw (Image: Gaw Capital Partners)

Gaw Capital Partners is expanding its operations in South Korea at the same time that it grows its fund raising capabilities in the Middle East, as the Hong Kong private equity shop announced a pair of senior hires on Tuesday.

Hyun-Chan Cho has been appointed managing director and head of Korea, with the former World Bank Group executive also taking on the role of head of infrastructure, Gaw Capital said in a release, with the company also naming Elizabeth Di Cioccio managing director and head of EMEA capital markets.

“Mr. Cho’s deep industry knowledge and strategic acumen make him the ideal candidate to lead our infrastructure investment initiatives in all markets, as well as drive the firm’s overall growth in the Korean market,” said Kenneth Gaw, president and managing principal at Gaw Capital Partners. “With his expertise across alternative asset classes, including infrastructure, growth capital and venture capital, we are confident his joining will help us further achieve our corporate strategic goals.”

Gaw’s hires reflect heightened interest in Korean real estate and Asian infrastructure assets among global institutional investors, with dealmakers having traded KRW 3.46 trillion ($2.5 billion) worth of Korean office assets in the first quarter, which was up 27.6 percent from the fourth quarter, while investors including KKR, Stonepeak and Seraya Partners have collectively raised some $10.5 billion of capital for Asia-dedicated infrastructure funds since December.

Korean Footprint

Cho joins Gaw Capital from Seoul-based venture capital and infrastructure investment firm IMM Investment, where he headed the fund manager’s infrastructure investment division since 2019. Prior to that, Cho worked for nearly 20 years as a director at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) division.

Gaw Capital had partnered with IMM Investment in 2022 when a fund under its management invested in Dreammark1, the data centre subsidiary of South Korean telecom and internet infrastructure firm Dreamline Co, which is a portfolio company of the Korean fund manager. Gaw Capital’s Korean portfolio also includes the office, officetel and retail portions of the Dongja 8 commercial building located in Seoul’s Yongsan district.

South Korea is among the key markets targeted in Gaw Capital’s opportunistic Gateway Real Estate Fund VII, which closed in June 2023 with $3 billion of equity raised.

The firm led by Goodwin Gaw also has a history of collaborating with Korean investors on outbound acquisitions, including having invested alongside MDM Asset Management in a San Francisco office campus late last year after investing on behalf of the Seoul-based firm in the Hyatt Regency Tokyo earlier in 2023.

In January, Gaw Capital reportedly received a $700 million investment from Korean pension giant National Pension Service.

Middle East Relationship Builder

Di Cioccio joins Gaw Capital from KKR, where she headed the US private equity titan’s Middle East business with a focus on raising capital from sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf Cooperation Council nations and other government and institutional clients.

Elizabeth Di Cioccio has experience raising Middle East cash (Image: Gaw Capital)

The 20-year veteran will be responsible for driving strategic initiatives and fostering key relationships in the EMEA region, with her appointment expected to enhance the fund manager’s presence in those markets.

“I have known Elizabeth personally for over a decade and have great respect for her work in our industry,” said Christina Gaw, managing principal, global head of capital markets, and co-chair of alternative investments at Gaw Capital Partners. “We believe Ms. Di Cioccio’s remarkable capital raising experience, coupled with her strong leadership skills, make her a valuable addition to Gaw Capital and will contribute to our continued growth in the EMEA region’s private markets, infrastructure sector and beyond.”

Prior to KKR, Di Cioccio served as partner and head of international distribution for private equity placement agent firm Mercury Capital Advisors, in addition to having worked at Merrill Lynch’s private equity fundraising group.

Gaw’s hire of Di Cioccio comes as Middle Eastern sovereign funds are seeking to boost their exposure to Asia. Last week, Gaw Capital and Tokyo-based investment manager Alyssa Partners acquired a portfolio of 29 Japanese apartment buildings on behalf of separate accounts for the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), two years after Gaw Capital purchase 32 Tokyo apartment buildings on behalf of separate accounts for QIA.

QIA, which set up a Singapore office in 2021 to source investment opportunities in Asia, made a splash in 2016 when it acquired Asia Square Tower 1 in Singapore from BlackRock for $2.45 billion in what was then the largest single-asset real estate transaction in Asia Pacific.

Last month, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and its cross-Emirate rival Mubadala Investment Company joined Hong Kong’s PAG, Ares Management, and CITIC Capital to acquire a 60 percent stake in Dalian Wanda Group’s shopping mall management business for $8.3 billion.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala is seeking to double its exposure to Asia, with a target of raising its Asian assets to 25 percent of assets under management by 2030 from 12 percent today. The sovereign fund in February established a $1 billion partnership with Goldman Sachs to invest in private debt opportunities across Asia Pacific, including real estate, with that venture following an October 2022 establishment of a $1 billion partnership with KKR, which also seeks to invest in Asia Pacific private credit opportunities.

Korea in Focus

Gaw Capital, which managed $35.9 billion in global assets as of the fourth quarter, joins a club of global institutional investors pursuing real estate opportunities in Korea, where Seoul’s office market continues to defy a global slowdown with a 9.4 percent year-on-year increase in average rents in the first quarter.

Recent office deals in the Korean capital include Blackstone’s sale of the Arc Place office building to local fund manager Koramco for KRW 792 billion in March, and M&G Real Estate’s sale of the Icon Yeoksam office building to local investment manager Capstone AMC for KRW 204.3 billion earlier this month.

Korean logistics and residential assets have also been in focus for investors, with KKR selling a Seoul-area warehouse for a reported KRW 500 billion to Korean asset manager IGIS Asset Management this month, just a week after the US private equity firm’s joint venture with rental housing operator and investor Weave Living acquired a Seoul hotel as the venture’s inaugural asset, with the property to be repositioned into a Weave Suites living facility.