Hidden Billions in Tokyo Real Estate Lure Activist Hedge Funds

The long-concealed market value of Tokyo’s largest skyscrapers is being unveiled by activist investors.

In Japan, there’s a huge gap — 22 trillion yen ($143 billion) by one estimate — between how companies value their real estate assets on their books, versus what those same properties would fetch if sold in the current market. That comes from two factors: First, many of the island nation’s firms have held onto properties for decades, each year writing down the cost of fixed assets due to annual depreciation, a common accounting practice. But at the same time, property prices have soared.

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