Morgan Stanley to close South Korea property office

HONG KONG: Morgan Stanley will shut down its real estate investment operations in South Korea by the end of the year to focus on other Asian markets, sources close to the company said on Tuesday, Dec 14.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing would close its Korean operations, manned by 10 people, after investing in the market for more than 10 years, the sources said.

The move underscored the difficulties for foreign real estate companies in the market, where transactions were dominated by domestic players, analysts said.

"It's been a tough market. There hasn't been much international capital in real estate," one of the sources told Reuters.

A spokesman from Morgan Stanley confirmed that the company was restructuring its real estate investing business in Korea, but that its wider business in the market was unaffected.

The real estate investing business still had a few office buildings in Korea and was in no rush to sell those assets, the sources said. — Reuters