Japanese tycoon Yanai buys Uniqlo building in Milan for $339 million, source says
FILE PHOTO: Tadashi Yanai, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fast Retailing Co., operator of Japan's Uniqlo clothing outlets, attends a news conference to mark unveiling the company's new headquarters building called UNIQLO CITY TOKYO in Tokyo, Japan March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
MILAN :The family office of Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai, founder and chief executive of Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing , has agreed to buy a building in Milan for about 300 million euros ($339 million), a source close to the matter said on Thursday.
Yanai, Japan's richest man, is buying the building from U.S. property firm Hines, the source added. Hines declined to comment. Yanai could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hines bought the building in 2016 and renovated it. Located near Milan's main Duomo square, the building stands across from the city's Starbucks Reserve Roastery in the elegant Piazza Cordusio.
Ynai was advised by JLL. The real estate and investment management services firm confirmed it worked as an adviser for a family office involved in the transaction, without giving further details.
The sale was first reported by Green Street News, which said that Yanai had recently bought also a Uniqlo-occupied building in Amsterdam and another one in London.
($1 = 0.8855 euros)
