VinaCapital plans to launch a $400 million real estate fund to target mixed-use developments in Vietnam where property developers have over-extended themselves, according to Reuters.

The Vietnam investment firm, which operates unlisted real estate funds through its VinaLand arm, said the credit crunch, combined with rising inflation, falling house prices and tighter credit had presented opportunities for private equity players.

Developers in particular were feeling the pinch, according to VinaCapital deputy managing director David Blackhall, who said the “wind [had] gone out of the sails” of property developers. “Now they have land and projects that they need to look at divesting,” he added.

As a result, VinaCapital was looking to raise a $400 million fund, Blackhall said in the report. “This is a very testing time. We’re gauging the market, and waiting for the right time to do it. We’re proposing the end of January.”

The new fund is expected to invest in mixed-use developments in Vietnam’s main cities, business hotels and apartment projects, Blackhall said. “Things are available now that you just couldn’t get 12 months ago - parcels of land in inner city Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,” he added. Blackhall predicted that property prices would continue to fall “a bit more” before normalising, and then appreciating.

 Source: Private Equity Real Estate