CHINA Investment Corp yesterday teamed up with Global Logistic Properties to set up a joint venture to invest in the logistics industry in Japan.

CIC, the country's sovereign wealth fund, and GLP, Asia's largest industrial and logistics infrastructure provider, will each hold 50 percent in the total investment of US$1.6 billion for the joint venture, according to the pact the two partners signed yesterday.

The joint venture will acquire 15 modern logistic facilities in Japan belonging to LaSalle Investment Management, a unit of the world's second-largest commercial real-estate broker, said GLP who will act as the asset manager of the acquired properties. The acquisitions may be done in the first quarter of 2012.

The 15 properties to be acquired cover 770,989 square meters, with over 90 percent in Tokyo and Osaka areas. The properties enjoy an occupancy rate of 98.3 percent.

"The properties to be acquired come with a strong tenant profile - 67 percent of the space is utilized by large third-party logistics service providers and 13 percent is leased by e-commerce companies," said Ming Z Mei, CEO of GLP.

He said GLP's Japan portfolio will grow 30 percent to 3.6 million square meters after the acquisitions.