Baker McKenzie and Allen & Overy have played pivotal roles in advising on the establishment of South Korea’s first open-ended core fund.
Baker McKenzie provided counsel to APG Asset Management, the investment manager of the largest pension provider in the Netherlands, on its investment into ESR Group’s Core Fund, valued at more than USD400 million.
Partner Jason Ng, who led the team at Baker McKenzie, said: “The core fund marks another evolution in the relationship between APG, CPP Investments and ESR Kendall Square (ESRKS), and we are very pleased to be a part of it, and to continue to support our clients in jurisdictions across the Asia-Pacific, including in the strong e-commerce market in South Korea.”
The Baker McKenzie team included special counsel Hayley Irons, and associates Lilian Wong and Mengshan Zhang. Irons and Zhang are also registered foreign lawyers. Allen & Overy advised ESR Group, the APAC’s largest real asset manager, led by partner Shuhui Kwok in Singapore.
“This highlights A&O’s leading capability in managing complex transactions for real asset managers in APAC. We’ve advised ESR on numerous fund establishment, M&A and financing deals, and look forward to continuing our relationship,” said Kwok.
The Core Fund is a collaboration between APG, CPP Investments and ESRKS, a subsidiary of ESR Group, aimed at acquiring high-quality income-producing assets in South Korea.
