UPDATE 1-CPPIB sees opportunity in global real estate

* Acquires Scottish shopping mall in joint venture

* To focus on real estate in US, Australia and Europe

TORONTO Dec 21 (Reuters) - Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which bought a troubled Scottish shopping mall on Monday, said more high-quality real estate would likely come available in key markets in the coming year.

The real estate arm of the CPP Investment Board and Hammerson PLC (HMSO.L), an Anglo-French property investor, bought the Silverburn shopping center near Glasgow from receivers for 297 million British pounds ($479 million) in a 50/50 joint venture.

The acquisition of the mall after its builder went into bankruptcy highlights opportunities in real estate in major economies around the world after the sector was pummeled by the global financial crisis.

"I think the change is that there are probably more opportunities that we expect to come to market that will be of very high quality," Graeme Eadie, senior vice-president for real estate investments for the CPP Investment Board, told Reuters by telephone in Toronto.

"We do expect that pricing will be competitive but it's not often that you find some of these opportunities and therefore we want to be able to take advantage of them."

CPPIB's $6.9 billion real estate investment portfolio invests in assets through joint ventures and real estate funds, mostly in office and retail commercial properties.

Real estate investments are located in major centers across Canada, Europe, the United States, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region.

CPPIB will focus its attention on the United States, Australia and Western Europe as it looks forward, Eadie said, and he predicted real estate investment activity return to normal next year in general terms.

"2009 was actually very, very quiet in terms of the number of deals that ended up getting done, so I think in 2010 things will open up again," he said when asked about the investment climate for next year.

The pension fund last month entered a joint venture to buy a U.S. prescription drug sales data provider, IMS Health Inc RX.N,for $4 billion in the largest leveraged buyout of the year.

Canadian pension funds are seen as key players in merger and acquisitions as the world slowly recovers from one of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The CPP Fund had C$123.8 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.

($1=$1.05 Canadian)

(Reporting by Pav Jordan; Editing by Frank McGurty)