Pier59 Studios – Kuwait Financial Express http://www.kuwaitfinancialexpress.com Mon, 13 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3.2 Preqin Publishes New Territory Guide: Real Estate in Saudi Arabia 2023 http://www.kuwaitfinancialexpress.com/preqin-publishes-new-territory-guide-real-estate-in-saudi-arabia-2023/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000 http://www.kuwaitfinancialexpress.com/?p=306811 LONDON, Feb. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Preqin, the global leader in alternative assets data, tools, and insights, published its Real Estate in Saudi Arabia 2023: Preqin Territory Guide. The report shows that while fundraising for closed end real estate funds in Saudi Arabia has been slowing in recent years, there may be an increase in activity this year with a number of funds currently open to investment.

The Preqin Territory Guide series gives alternatives investors data–driven insight on the opportunities in a particular market or region.

Monumental investments in real estate planned in Saudi Arabia

Real estate is at the heart of Saudi Arabia's vision of its future. The Kingdom is rich in oil revenues, but is also cultivating private finance and expertise from both domestic and international sources to deliver its Vision 2030 ambitions. Furthermore, there are developing plans for monumental investments in real estate, such as the $500bn Neom desert city project. While the asset class has long been a core component of investor portfolios in Saudi Arabia, it's not a fully institutionalized market. Investors have plenty of options to gain exposure to the region, with access routes including real estate investment trusts (REITs), separately managed accounts (SMAs), club and direct deals, and small but ambitious private fund managers.

Offering enhanced insights into the region, Preqin is now tracking 35 real estate fund managers in Saudi Arabia. Data shows assets under management (AUM) in closed–end funds at Saudi Arabia–based managers stand at $3.2bn at the end of June 2022, with dry powder of $537mn, the majority of which is in core strategies.

The pace of fundraising might be slowing, but an increase could be on the horizon

The fundraising market in the region has slowed in recent years, with the number of private real estate funds closing annually from a peak of 11 in 2017. However, there may be an increase in activity this year, with 9 Saudi Arabia–based real estate funds currently open to investment. The largest managers in the region, as measured by funds raised over the past 10 years, are Blominvest Saudi Arabia ($1.0bn), the Investor for Securities Company ($903bn), and Jadwa Investment ($747mn), followed by Alkhabeer Capital ($375mn), Al Rajhi Capital ($336mn), Tharwat For Financial Securities ($317mn), and Albilad Capital ($304mn).

Furthermore, in terms of the prospects for international investors, with its Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia has an entity that can pull expertise and capital into the country. The $620bn AUM sovereign wealth fund, already one of the world's largest investors in alternative assets, has a strategic goal to provide access to capital from the private sector and its other strategic partners, also with a view to gain exposure to international domain expertise associated with such capital.

However, while Preqin analysts believe a reversal in fundraising trends might be a possibility, it must be noted that this is a particularly opaque corner of the alternatives market and many funds that have closed in the past few years did not disclose the amount of capital they had raised.

David Lowery, SVP, Head of Research Insights, says, "We see strong fundamentals for real estate in Saudi Arabia. This is illustrated by the country's GDP which was estimated to have increased by 8.6% in the year to Q3 2022, with inflation running at a relatively low rate of 2.5%. While real estate deal activity across all segments is constrained by a lack of supply, the hospitality sector is enjoying a post–COVID–19 boom, underpinned by the recovery in religious tourism and continued growth in entertainment and conferences."

Key Preqin Real Estate in Saudi Arabia 2023 facts:

  • AUM: Closed–end funds' AUM at Saudi Arabia–based managers reached $3.2bn by the end of June 2022
  • Funds: 9 Saudi Arabia–based real estate funds tracked by Preqin are currently raising capital
  • Dry powder: Preqin data shows $537mn in dry powder in closed–end real estate funds in Saudi Arabia

For more information, and to receive a full copy of the report, contact Dawn Bowles, Senior Marketing Manager, Regional Marketing, Growth Markets, at dawn.bowles@preqin.com

– Preqin Pro data covers unlisted closed–end real estate funds. The charts and tables in the report are for this segment of the real estate market in Saudi Arabia only

– All reference to "$' is USD

______________________________________________________________________________________________

About Preqin

Preqin, the Home of Alternatives, empowers financial professionals who invest in or allocate to alternatives with essential data and insight to make confident decisions. It supports them throughout the entire investment lifecycle with critical information and leading analytics solutions. The company has pioneered rigorous methods of collecting private data for 20 years, enabling more than 200,000 professionals globally to streamline how they raise capital, source deals and investments, understand performance, and stay informed. For more information visit www.preqin.com.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1000782087)

]]>
Pier59 Studios Debuts Virtual Production LED MegaWall at NYFW Opening Party http://www.kuwaitfinancialexpress.com/pier59-studios-debuts-virtual-production-led-megawall-at-nyfw-opening-party/ Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kuwaitfinancialexpress.com/?p=306785

NEW YORK, Feb. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Opening in February 2023, Pier59 Studios' Virtual Production will usher in a new era of groundbreaking video production capability while offering unsurpassed creative flexibility. Leveraging recent advances in LED displays, Pier59 Studios has constructed the world's largest and most advanced Virtual Production stage for fashion and advertising.

This disruptive technology utilizes real–time computer–generated imagery (CGI) to create digital environments and special effects that are captured simultaneously with live–action props and actors. The platform enables creatives to see the final visual effects as they are filming, allowing for greater control and flexibility in the filmmaking process while substantially reducing budgets.

Pier59 Studio's Virtual Production features the following:

  • The LED Volume consists of a main 65' curved LED screen and 40' articulating ceiling, housing more than 25 million pixels capable of generating over 25 billion colors.
  • The 4K system is controlled by one of the most powerful virtual production systems in the world generating more than 200 teraflops (200 trillion calculations per second) of computational power.
  • The interactive, image–based lighting is delivered at 1500 nits (over 5,000 lumens) producing photo–realistic lighting, shadows and reflections.

With virtual production techniques, producers, directors, and creatives of all types can easily control the time of day, the season, the weather and the location (either real or imagined) all while realizing:

  • Cost savings: By using virtual sets, props, and characters, filmmakers can reduce the need for expensive physical sets and props while saving on location fees and travel.
  • Increased control: Filmmakers are able to see the final result in real–time as they are shooting with adjustments and changes able to be made on the fly, without having to wait for post–production.
  • Creative flexibility: Filmmakers can create digital environments that would be impossible or too expensive to create in real life providing greater creative freedom and the ability to generate new and innovative visual effects.

"As a disruptive technology, Virtual Production is comparable to the digital photography revolution of the late 90s. By delivering significant cost savings, while providing incomparable creative flexibility and quality control, Virtual Production is going to radically change the way Fashion and Advertising content will be produced.
In simple terms, instead of going to a location to shoot, we bring the location of choice into our Studios in a realistic and fully immersive context. In comparison Virtual Production can even bring deeper market changing conditions then the recent digital revolution as a natural advancement of it.
I am very confident that the Fashion and Advertising Industries will rapidly evaluate and adopt this considerable technological advancement and fully embrace it." – Federico Pignatelli, Founder and President

Pier59 Studios will celebrate this launch on Wednesday, February 8th starting at 7pm. Previews of the Virtual Production capabilities can be scheduled by appointment only.

ABOUT PIER59 STUDIOS
Founded in 1995 by Federico Pignatelli and his Art and Fashion Group Corporation, Pier59 Studios is an 110,000 square–foot premier photography and multimedia studio located at Chelsea Piers in New York City. As the largest photography facility and multimedia complex in the world, the space is equipped with state of the art technology and accommodates the needs of photographers, designers, advertising agencies and television production companies. Pier59 Studios features eleven column–free studio spaces, including a 5,400 square–foot sound stage constructed for live performances, special events, video and commercial projects. Nine studios are conceived for both natural and artificial lighting and are equipped with movable retractable walls to allow for full flexibility and modularity of their unique column–less spaces, to allow for all production needs.

PRESS INQUIRIES
Jocelyn.Cash@purplepr.com
Shiana.Madray@purplepr.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/df42286a–8556–4237–b8f5–9b6fefb03b7c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c48a74f8–4aed–4a36–aff9–004bcc81375b

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/79079c9d–d464–48c3–a3bd–589875a5ff06

The photos are also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8743505)

]]>