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Most of the apartments sold are located in small cities in the
east and around 70 percent of the total 46,405 units in the
buildings are vacant, highlighting the country's shrinking
population. The number of Japanese people, excluding resident
foreigners, fell at the start of this year at its fastest pace
since comparable figures were kept in 1968.
A spokesman from Fortress - which Japan's SoftBank Group Corp
<9984.T> has agreed to buy for about $3.3 billion - declined to
comment on news of the purchase.
The auction was part of a sale of apartment buildings built
mostly in the 1960s and 1970s and owned by a health ministry
organization catering to the elderly, disabled and unemployed.
An official from the government organization only disclosed the
buyer as a special purpose company, whose connection to Fortress
was not immediately clear.
There was only one bidder and the buyer was chosen in June,
according to a document issued by the government entity.
Other investors were concerned about renovation costs and
demographic trends, among other things, the sources said.
Last year Fortress bought about 1,600 apartment buildings in
similar conditions in western Japan from the same organization
for 36.6 billion yen. It has since renovated the buildings.
Fortress's investments span real estate, hedge funds and private
equity.
It is one of few global foreign investors with funds that are
targeted at Japanese assets. In the wake of the global financial
crisis, Fortress bought bad loans in Italy and has a track
record in Japan, where it bought hotels held by Lehman Brothers
after the bank collapsed in 2008.
($1 = 110.5800 yen)
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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