Morgan continues real estate spree

Morgan Stanley has bought Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co.'s Seoul headquarters for $1.04 billion, published reports said. The 23-story tower will be the New York-based securities firm's newest addition to its $8 billion portfolio of overseas offices, residences and hotels. The sale of the building will be South Korea's largest real estate transaction by value. Morgan Stanley, the biggest real estate investor among Wall Street banks, has, of late, been on a transnational buying spree. In May, Morgan Stanley purchased Investa Property Group, Australia's largest office owner for $4 billion. That same month, it also bought For Worth, Tex.-based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. for $2.9 billion, excluding assumed debt. In April, Morgan Stanley, in the largest property deal by a foreign investor in Japan, purchased 13 hotels from All Nippon Airways Co. for $2.3 billion and also snapped up 10 European hotels from Hilton Hotels Corp. for $770 million. Morgan Stanley now owns more than 80 hotels around the globe.