Korea National Pension Fund: Not Reviewing Sydney Building Buy

SEOUL -(Dow Jones)- South Korea's National Pension Service said Monday that it wasn't reviewing the purchase of an office building in Sydney, although it received an offer to invest in a building there.

The comment follows a media report that it was to buy the Aurora Place office building from a fund operated by Colonial First State Asset Management for around A$685 million.

The NPS said in a statement the preferred bidder for the building had asked the pension fund to participate as an investor. The statement didn't elaborate further.

The Australian reported on its Web site Monday, citing Jones Lang LaSalle Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Alastair Hughes, who conducted the tender for the building, that the deal would be announced laterMonday.

Institutional investors in the Colonial First State fund that owns the building, including Australian Reward Investment Alliance, Telstra Super, Australia Post Superannuation Scheme, UniSuper, and VicSuper voted to accept the offer Friday, the Web site reported.

Private equity group Carlyle acted as advisers to the National Pension Service, it said.

-By Jin-Young Yook, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2230; jin-young.yook@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2009 21:33 ET (02:33 GMT)

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