Morgan Stanley Expands in Asia
And Buys Hong Kong Company

The Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund said it acquired a majority stake in Shama, a boutique serviced-apartment and property company in Hong Kong, through a management-led buyout from the Schroder Asian Properties Fund.

A person familiar with the transaction said Morgan Stanley Real Estate paid about 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, or about US$130 million, for the stake in Shama, which owns and operates five properties in Hong Kong, including 233 apartments and six restaurants.

Elaine Young, founder of Shama, will remain as chief executive and a shareholder in the company.

In March, Morgan Stanley Real Estate invested US$68 million in Mantri Developers Private Ltd., a private real-estate developer based in Bangalore, India. It also said it concluded fund-raising for another real-estate fund, the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund V International, after accumulating US$4.2 billion.

MSREF V International will invest in real-estate portfolios across all property types, publicly traded or privately held real-estate companies, and direct real-estate assets and developments. The fund has committed about 50% of its capital to these types of investments in Japan, China and Western Europe.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired US$77.5 billion of real-estate assets world-wide.

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