Mirae Asset Securities puts its Yeouido building on the market

Mirae Asset Securities Co. is seeking to sell off its Seoul-based office building, the value of which is estimated at around 300 billion won ($223.7 million), banking sources said on Wednesday.

The brokerage arm of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group has recently sent requests for proposal (RFPs) to financial advisors to start a bidding process for the property located in Yeouido financial district, sources added.

The prime office, Mirae Asset Securities Building, has 18 stories above ground and three stories underground with 39,087 square meters of floor area. Mirae Asset Securities and Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co. Yeouido branches are among the tenants.

Founded in 1984, the property was initially owned by Daewoo Securities, the brokerage arm of the now-defunct Daewoo Group. One of the largest conglomerates in Korea in the late 1990s, Daewoo Group collapsed with debts of more than $75 billion and sold the office building at 47.6 billion won to Goldman Sachs in 2001.

Macquarie Group acquired the property at 72 billion won in 2004 and sold it to Deutsche Bank AG’s alternative asset management unit RREEF at 112 billion won in 2007. Daewoo Securities reclaimed ownership of the asset in 2008, and in 2016, Mirae Asset Securities took over the property as the firm was merged with Daewoo Securities.

The sale, expected to reach around 300 billion won, may take longer than usual due to high interest rates, sources said.

Mirae Asset Securities said in a regulatory filing on Oct. 11 that it hasn’t confirmed selling the property. It is considering various options such as a sale, redevelopment or retention for effective management of the asset, not just to improve the firm’s financial condition, the firm added.  

Meanwhile, Mirae Asset Securities relocated its main office to Mirae Asset Center 1 Building, the Mirae Asset Financial Group headquarters in Euljiro district, Seoul in 2011. Major tenants include some Mirae Asset affiliates, KKR & Co. Inc.’s Seoul office and SK Hynix Inc.  

Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu at hwahwa@hankyung.com


Jihyun Kim edited this article.