Daibiru Acquires Equity Interest in Central Hanoi Office Building- Following Projects in U.S. and Australia, Pursuing Overseas Investment Utilizing MOL Group Network

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced that Daibiru Corporation (Daibiru; President and CEO: Takashi Maruyama; Head Office: Kita-ku, Osaka), an MOL Group company engaged in the real property business, acquired a major stake*1 in 63 Ly Thai To, a Grade A*2 office and commercial building located in Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, in the city’s central business district (CBD).

(63 Ly Thai To’s appearance)

The property faces a main street intersection along with the Opera House and the Hanoi Stock Exchange, both famous Hanoi landmarks, and is surrounded by a high concentration of office and commercial buildings including five-star hotels, high-end boutiques, and major government agencies. It is an A-grade building that maintains high rent and occupancy rates even after 25 years, thanks to the high-quality management by the developer, a company affiliated with Hongkong Land*3. It is near the Cornerstone Building in the Hoan Kiem District, which is owned and operated by Daibiru, and the company will share the high-level building operation and management know-how it has built up over the years, with the aim of continually improving its services.

In the new management plan “BLUE ACTION 2035,” established by the MOL Group in March, Daibiru is committed to its portfolio and regional strategies as keys to its growth strategy. The real property business is positioned as one of the non-shipping, stable-earning businesses that help balance out results in the volatile shipping market, and Daibiru is proactively expanding investment to pursue its business portfolio reforms. By drawing upon the MOL Group’s domestic and overseas networks*4, Daibiru is also expanding its real property business in Vietnam, which is closely related to the MOL Group’s shipping and logistics businesses, a country where the group expects strong economic growth.

Daibiru’s Business in Vietnam

Daibiru acquired well-located Grade A office buildings in Vietnam’s two largest cities, Saigon Tower in Ho Chi Minh City in 2012 and the Cornerstone Building in Hanoi in 2014. These properties have earned high regard from tenants and the market, thanks to the assignment of Daibiru employees to local building ownership and management companies, ensuring office leasing services equivalent to those available in Japan. Furthermore, Daibiru has steadily built a business foundation in Vietnam as a pioneering Japanese-affiliated office building operator, as in 2021, it decided to participate in an office building development project in Hanoi, its first overseas project.
Source: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines