The sale of IGIS Asset Management—Korea’s largest real estate investment manager—is fast emerging as a battleground for global capital.

According to investment banking sources on September 22, five shortlisted bidders are currently conducting due diligence and interviewing key executives at IGIS: Hanwha Life, Heungkuk Life, Singapore’s CapitaLand, private equity firm MBK Partners, and global investment powerhouse Hillhouse.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the lead advisors, are expected to call for final bids by the end of October.

Among the shortlist, Hillhouse stands out as a particularly eye-catching contender. Founded in 2005 by Lei Zhang, Hillhouse has grown into a $100 billion AUM global investment firm with offices spanning Singapore, Hong Kong, London, and New York.

Its portfolio cuts across sectors from internet and healthcare to manufacturing, and in Korea the firm has made high-profile bets on Woowa Brothers (Baemin), Kurly, and Krafton.

In 2023, Hillhouse acquired SK Ecoplant’s subsidiary SK Ecoprime, and recently participated in the preliminary bidding for Classys, a medical aesthetics device maker.

Hillhouse has also been quietly building a footprint in real assets. Last year, it acquired a 50.04% controlling stake in Japanese developer-operator Samty Holdings for about KRW 670 billion, subsequently taking the company private and steering it away from a developer-driven model toward a recurring income, platform-style business.

That pivot reflects Hillhouse’s broader push for geographic and asset-class diversification in pursuit of stable, long-term returns.

IGIS, with KRW 67 trillion (approx. USD 50 billion) in AUM as of H1 2025, is Korea’s largest real estate manager and a dominant force across both asset management and development.

Its platform has executed marquee projects such as the Hilton Hotel redevelopment and the Seoullo/Metro Tower mixed-use complex, making it a cornerstone player in the domestic market.

For Hillhouse, acquiring IGIS would not only boost its scale in real assets but also deliver a ready-made LP and investor network in Korea—one of Asia’s most sophisticated real estate markets. Leveraging Hillhouse’s own global LP base, the acquisition could also elevate IGIS’s cross-border investment capabilities, effectively transforming the firm into a regional hub.

The playbook mirrors Hillhouse’s approach with Samty Holdings in Japan, where it has been positioning the company as a long-term operating platform.

Market watchers say Hillhouse’s bid is less about a one-off financial trade and more about building a permanent base camp in Korea’s real estate ecosystem.

If successful, it would mark one of the most significant foreign takeovers of a Korean asset manager to date, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape and accelerating the integration of Korean real estate into global capital flows.