News and Press
Goldman Raises $4 Billion for New Real Estate Fund
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised $4.07 billion for a new property fund, twice as much as investors said the firm originally sought, as Wall Street banks amass record amounts for real estate investment.
The new fund, called Whitehall Street Global Real Estate LP 2007, surpassed the 2005 Whitehall fund of $3.2 billion, according to Gia Morón, a spokeswoman for New York-based Goldman. Goldman's new fund is half the size of Morgan Stanley's $8 billion global real estate fund announced earlier today, which is the largest property fund to date.
Record inflows into real estate funds have fueled a barrage of takeovers as fund managers seek to profit from increased demand for office space and housing around the world. More than $30 billion has been raised by private equity real estate pools so far this year, after a record $68 billion in 2006, according to London-based Private Equity Intelligence Ltd.
"The increase we've seen over the past two years has been enormous," said Tim Friedman, a spokesman for Private Equity Intelligence, noting that real estate funds raised just $21 billion as recently as 2004. "A third of all funds being raised by Americans have some focus on Asia and everyone is looking to developing regions for deals that are more profitable."
Whitehall Invests in ASNY Vacation Ownership Business
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The ASNY Corporation (“ASNY”) and the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds (“Whitehall”), affiliated with the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ("Goldman Sachs"), today announced that Whitehall’s most recent fund, Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2007, has made a substantial investment in the vacation ownership resort business of ASNY. Terms for the transaction were not disclosed. The new venture will be called ASNY Holdings, LLC. Arthur Spector, founder and chairman of ASNY, will be the managing partner of the new joint venture and a substantial holder of the new company. ASNY will maintain its principal offices in Las Vegas and the entire management team will remain in place.
Arthur Spector, Chief Executive Officer of ASNY, remarked: “We expect that there will be no change in daily operations of the company and for the communities in which we do business. This is an absolute win-win transaction for all involved. We are pleased to welcome Whitehall as a partner and look forward to strong growth in our business.” Mr. Spector continued: “This investment creates new opportunities for my team and for our over 2,500 employees.”
Stuart Rothenberg, a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and head of its real estate principal investing area, commented: "We are delighted to make this investment with what we believe is the preeminent management team in the vacation ownership market. Mr. Spector, along with his team, have built a very successful business. We expect to combine this platform with our extensive resources in Whitehall to continue to grow this business into what we believe will be a world leader in the vacation ownership industry."
"The increase we've seen over the past two years has been enormous," said Tim Friedman, a spokesman for Private Equity Intelligence, noting that real estate funds raised just $21 billion as recently as 2004. "A third of all funds being raised by Americans have some focus on Asia and everyone is looking to developing regions for deals that are more profitable."
Goldman unit invests in firm with Maui, Kauai property
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Whitehall real estate fund said it made a "substantial" investment in Consolidated Resorts Inc., a developer of vacation ownership properties on Maui and Kaua'i and in Las Vegas and Orlando.
Consolidated was owned by closely held ASNY Corp. of Las Vegas. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The companies formed a joint venture called ASNY Holdings LLC that will be managed by Arthur Spector, ASNY's founder, chairman and chief executive officer, New York-based Goldman said in a statement distributed by Business Wire today.
"We expect to combine this platform with our extensive resources in Whitehall to continue to grow this business into what we believe will be a world leader in the vacation ownership industry," said Stuart Rothenberg, the Goldman managing director who heads the firm's principal real estate investing unit, in the statement.