* Gaw completes 4th investment in London for Asian buyers
* Asian buyers seek "safe commercial and residential realestate"-exec
* Building currently houses HQ for retailer Marks & Spencer
* Seller was D2 Private, an Irish property investmentfirm-source
By Stephen Aldred and Denny Thomas
HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong based private equityfirm Gaw Capital Partners and three South Korean investors haveteamed up to buy the London headquarters of retailer Marks &Spencer for around $321 million, adding to a stringproperty deals by Asian investors this year.
Asian investors, including insurers and banks, are buyinginto European properties as a way to diversify their portfoliosas they seek steady yield of between 5-6 percent.
"There is definitely a growing demand from Asianinstitutional investors in safe commercial and residential realestate purchases abroad," said Christina Gaw, managing principaland head of capital markets at Gaw Capital.
The purchase of Waterside House in Paddington, which has 237,800 square feet office space, would make it Gaw Capital'sfourth property deal in London this year.
The formerly run-down Paddington area is being redevelopedto include, construction of a rail line to cross London and newhotels and retail properties. The building was designed byarchitect Richard Rogers, who also designed the Lloyds of LondonBuilding and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
China's Ping An Insurance Group in July acquiredthe Lloyds of London Building, the first direct overseasproperty acquisition by a mainland China insurance company and adeal in which Gaw Capital was an advisor.
Gaw Capital was joined in the Waterside acquisition by theKorean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, Suhyup Bank and Hyundai Securities, according to asource with direct knowledge of the matter. Gaw Capitalannounced the deal in a statement on Wednesday withoutdisclosing details.
The seller of Waterside was D2 Private, an Irish propertyinvestment company, the source added.
The source could not be named because details of the dealwere private.
Gaw, which has $7.1 billion in assets under management,recently launched Gaw Capital Partners USA to raise up to $500million to invest in U.S. commercial real estate. The firm lastmonth said it has raised a $1.025 billion real estate fund forinvestment in China.
Marks & Spencer (MKS)