JP Morgan's asset management has taken a big step to raising its profile as a major real estate investor in the Asian region.

JP Morgan Asset Management’s acquisition of a real estate platform from UK-listed Aviva, bringing $1.2 billion of property assets, is a sign of how consolidation is taking place in the global real estate management business.

Last week, JP Morgan Asset Management announced it has acquired Aviva’s Asia Pacific real estate platform, a direct real estate investment management platform operating in Australia, Japan and Singapore. JP Morgan AM said it has added to its existing footprint in India and the Chinese mainland. Globally, the firm, part of US-listed JP Morgan, oversees $82 billion in property, infrastructure and maritime assets globally.

Aviva Investors’ multi-manager property strategies in the region will not be affected by the transaction, the financial size of which wasn’t disclosed.

Media reports said JP Morgan’s property assets in the Asia region now stand at around $4.1 billion.

JP Morgan Asset Management said the combined Asia team as a result of the acquisition comprises nearly 50 real estate professionals operating from five offices throughout Asia Pacific – Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai and Sydney.  A sixth office in the region, in Tokyo, is scheduled to open in early 2015.

“Asia Pacific presents an enormous investment opportunity for our clients. We have accelerated the expansion of our geographic footprint into key real estate markets and added high quality personnel on the ground with extensive market expertise and deep local relationships,” David Chen, head of real estate for Asia-Pacific at JP Morgan Asset Management, global real assets, said.

Last week, global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield pushed the M&A story along when it agreed to acquire Massey Knakal Realty Services, which it calls “New York’s number-one investment sales firm”. The acquisition gives Cushman & Wakefield a stronger capital markets presence in the New York Tri-State region, it said.

Earlier in December, Aviva and Friends Life, both of them insurers, which both provide wealth management among other services, agreed for the former firm to buy Friends Life in an all-share deal valued at £5.6 billion ($8.79 billion), making it one of the largest insurance marriages in recent UK history.

Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, holders of Friends Life shares will receive 0.74 new Aviva shares for each Friends Life Share they hold. The £5.6 billion value of the deal represents a premium of 15 per cent to the closing price of 343 pence per Friends Life share on 20 November, a statement from the firms said.