Hedge Funds Pile Into Japan’s $165 Billion Real Estate Trade (1)

Global hedge funds and private equity firms are gravitating toward Japanese companies in a bid to unlock as much as ¥25 trillion ($165 billion) in undervalued real estate.

The hidden value of property on corporate balance sheets is showing up as a theme behind some of the biggest activist campaigns and mergers and acquisitions announced in Japan this year. In the latest move, Elliott Investment Managementunveiled a 5.03% holding in Tokyo Gas Co., with a real estate portfolio that the US firm estimates is worth about ¥1.5 trillion — almost as much as the utility’s entire market value ...