PCRFY Panasonic Holdings Corporation (PK)

By Keiko Morris 

A Kuwait-based investment fund has paid $165 million for a Newark tower that houses Panasonic Corp. of North America's headquarters.

KFH Capital Investment Co., which manages the fund, on Friday closed the deal to buy the 337,500-square foot building from SJP Properties and Matrix Development Group, according to the two former owners.

The sale is another sign that international investors are pushing out to the areas surrounding major markets such as New York City and San Francisco in search of better prices and higher yields, said Jeffrey Dunne, a vice chairman at CBRE Group Inc. and part of the team representing SJP and Matrix.

The tower drew interest from investors in Malaysia, Japan, China, the Middle East and the U.S., Mr. Dunne said.

The Panasonic brand attracted investors, he said, because Panasonic is viewed as a stable company with a strong credit profile. Panasonic has 15 years remaining on its lease at the building, according to a spokeswoman for SJP.

The building's proximity to Manhattan was another draw, Mr. Dunne said. "You are literally two blocks from the PATH station and NJ Transit," he said.

The property's modern amenities also appealed to KFH Capital, said Anup Patel, president and chief investment officer at Arch Street Capital Advisors LLC, which advised KFH on the deal.

SJP, which developed the building for Panasonic in 2013, recognized several years ago that downtown Newark was undergoing a transformation, with upscale retailers coming in, apartment-building renovations and new construction in the works, said Steven Pozycki, SJP's chief executive.

Those improvements, in addition to a vibrant student population drawn to the city's academic institutions as well as extensive mass transportation, are at the heart of the city's growing attraction for real estate investors, despite its gritty reputation.

"We saw Newark as clearly one of the transportation hubs of the northeast," Mr. Pozycki said. "Clearly the office markets in New Jersey are moving from West to East, to live-work-play, 24-7 mass transit locations, and we felt Newark fit that very well."

Write to Keiko Morris at Keiko.Morris@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2016 02:48 ET (07:48 GMT)

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