KKR enters the European real estate market.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private equity company based in the United States, has made its first investment in the European property market, paying £112 million ($174.7 million) for three retail warehouse parks in the United Kingdom. qatar seal

According to the Financial Times, the three centers, known collectively as the Tuscany Portfolio, equal 430,000 square feet in Oxford, Glasgow, and Sunderland, with an initial net yield of 6.5 percent based on the price.

"We like the properties because they have a long lease [10 years], which is a positive thing to have in macroeconomic instability," Guillaume Cassou, KKR's European real estate head, told the Financial Times.

According to a statement from KKR, the centers are 90 percent complete. The purchase is part of a new wave of private equity operation in the United Kingdom. First-time investors in the United Kingdom have traditionally focused on London. The FT notes that buyers are beginning to shy away from London's office and retail assets as yields fall due to competition from sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors.

A £250 million portfolio of suburban warehouses used as distribution centers by retailers in the United Kingdom was recently acquired by a Norwegian oil fund.

Mr. Cassou told Bloomberg, "London is costly in a lot of the schools." "When we look beyond London, we find appealing prospects in workplaces, shopping, and alternative groups. Residential and student housing are on the table."

The Tuscany Portfolio had previously been sold for £125 million to Starwood Capital, a competitor US private equity firm, according to the report. Resolution Property, a real estate company based in the United Kingdom, sold it.

On the acquisition, KKR collaborated with Quadrant Estates, a U.K.-based asset manager, and is said to be in talks for further deals in the U.K. and continental Europe.

Bloomberg notes that KKR has raised $500 million for its first real estate fund, including $200 million from the firm itself.

A Chinese company has taken control of a project in London.

Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate, has purchased a London construction site for a £700 million hotel and residential tower project.

Dalian Wanda, owned by billionaire Wang Jianlin, plans to build a 160-room hotel on the site as part of the One Nine Elm reconstruction project, which will be the first Wanda hotel outside of China. The current plan calls for the construction of a 205-meter tower, which would be Europe's tallest residential tower.

Green Property, an Irish developer, has already secured planning permission to construct 43- and 58-story towers on the site. According to a published article, Green Property made a profit of £90 million from the sale.

"I warmly welcome Dalian Wanda's investment in London as part of our plans to turn Nine Elms into a beautiful quarter of the capital, creating thousands of new jobs and homes," London mayor Boris Johnson said.

Dalian Wang is the owner of a number of businesses, including the AMC movie theater chain in the United States. It also revealed a £320 million deal to buy Sunseeker, a British yacht designer, this week.

In a quote, Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, said, "The One Nine Elms site stands out as an exciting chance to be part of the transformation of a significant part of one of the world's greatest cities."

On the south bank of the Thames, Nine Elms is a 480-acre site that will be home to a variety of residential, office, and retail facilities.

The acquisition of Dalian Wanda is the latest foray by Chinese developers into London. The city revealed last month that it had reached an agreement with a Chinese developer to redevelop the Royal Docks site.