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CapitaLand Investment aims to more than double investments in India by 2028
CapitaLand Investment (CLI) says it aims to more than double its funds under management (FUM) in India by 2028, up from its FUM of $7.4 billion, or INR458.8 billion, as at June 30. The move will contribute to CLI’s aim to achieve $200 billion in FUM by 2028 as well.
The target was announced on the back of CLI’s 30th anniversary in India, with the group positive on the country’s growth trajectory and the group’s priority to diversify its portfolio geographically.
“India is a strategic market for us and a key contributor to CLI’s overall business. India has been one of our fastest-growing markets, where our investments have tripled in the last seven years. With India’s GDP forecasted to grow 7% in 2024 and its trajectory to be the world’s third-largest economy in the next five years, the country is attracting demand from global corporations and institutional investors for quality real assets,” says CLI’s group CEO Lee Chee Koon.
“Given our deep expertise in the country and the strong tailwinds, we are confident of more than doubling our current FUM of $7.4 billion in India by 2028. This is also aligned with our priority on geographical diversification to achieve better capital rebalancing,” he adds.
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“India presents tremendous potential for CLI. We will drive growth through our listed CapitaLand India Trust CY6U [CLINT] and our private funds. We have successfully established four private funds across logistics and business parks, and we see opportunities for data centre funds in India riding on the country’s fast-growing digital economy,” says Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of CLI India.
“We will leverage our operational expertise to grow the value of our assets, further expand our logistics footprint under our established logistics platform, Ascendas-Firstspace [AFS], and scale up our lodging portfolio through CLI’s lodging arm, The Ascott Limited. CLI remains focused on delivering sustainable returns to our capital partners as we continue to contribute to India’s vibrant economic landscape and the local community.”
CLI entered India 30 years ago with the development of its first IT park, International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) via Ascendas. Ascendas merged with Singbridge to form Ascendas-Singbridge in 2015. Ascendas-Singbridge subsequently merged with CapitaLand in 2019. After the restructuring of CapitaLand, CLI was listed in 2021.
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Today, the group has 14 business parks and IT parks spanning 23.5 million sq ft of space across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Gurgaon.
According to CLI, the group will adopt several strategies to expand its portfolio of business parks including accelerating development activities to address the increasing demand for premium office spaces across key metropolitan cities.
Meanwhile, CLINT will continue to look for prime assets to ensure a robust pipeline for sustained growth.
CLI will also continue to raise third-party capital through new private funds aimed at greenfield developments and value-added strategies. In addition, the group will seek joint development and joint venture opportunities with capital partners, along with commercial management partnerships to expand its presence in India.
Beyond business and IT parks, CLI also has a logistics and industrial portfolio, data centres and a lodging portfolio in India.
Through its logistics and industrial portfolio, the group aims to cater to the rising demand for high-quality logistics and industrial infrastructure. AFS, one of the group’s companies and one of India’s leading logistics and industrial players, will be a “key driver” for CLI to grow in these sectors. CLI will also look to conduct acquisitions in this space.
CLI first entered the logistics and industrial space in 2016 and now has properties totalling 9.1 million sq ft. The group has 12 logistics and industrial assets in India under AFS and three industrial assets and one logistics park under CLINT.
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CLI also aims to drive a multi-city approach for its data centres to cater to the needs of enterprise and hyperscale clients. Through CLINT, CLI is developing four state-of-the-art, sustainable data centres across key cities in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, with a total gross power capacity of 244 megawatts. The group’s first data centres in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad are slated to begin operations in 2025.
Through its lodging business, The Ascott, CLI will explore bringing new offerings into India. The Ascott currently operates seven properties across six cities. Two properties were opened in Goa and Gurugram in 2024. Another eight is expected to open in the next three to four years.
In addition, CLI is looking to diversify into the renewables market and real estate private credit in India. According to the group, renewable energy is a fast-growing market in the country; the Indian government is targeting to achieve 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from the current 111 GW.
“CLI has a captive demand for renewable energy from its tenants across its data centres and business parks,” says the group in its Sept 4 statement.
Real estate private credit is also gaining interest among institutional investors in the country. The debt market in Indian real estate has a potential US$170 billion ($221.6 billion) financing opportunity between 2024 and 2026, driven by the increasing demand for residential construction finance, says CLI. — Felicia Tan
Ennoconn buys 53.38% stake in NeraTel; makes mandatory unconditional cash offer of 7.5 cents per share
Taiwan-listed Ennoconn Corporation, having secured majority control of Nera Telecommunications N01 (NeraTel) from its current controlling shareholder, is making a 7.5 cents per share offer for the other minority shareholders.
The offer values the Singapore-listed company at around $27.14 million.
Ennoconn, which has been listed since 2014, is in the business of making and selling data storage, processing equipment and industrial motherboards.
Ennoconn, advised by DBS Bank, is paying Asia Systems $14.49 million for its 53.38% stake in NeraTel.
At the transacted price of 7.5 cents, it represents a 6.3% discount to the volume weighted average (VWAP) price of NeraTel’s shares traded on Sept 4. It also represents a 5.1% discount to the VWAP of 7.9 cents for NeraTel’s shares traded over the last one month.
Under Singapore’s listing rules, Ennoconn is required to make an offer for the remaining shareholders at the same price.
Ennoconn plans to keep NeraTel listed and does not intend to revise the offer price. On completion, the acquired shares will be held by Ennoconn Solutions, a wholly-owned unit.
According to Ennoconn, it wants to leverage its synergies with NeraTel as part of its ESaaS (or Ennoconn Solution as a Service) platform. The acquisition is seen to beef up Ennoconn’s presence in markets including Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
“By aligning efforts in ‘products, applications, platforms and markets’, [Ennoconn] and [NeraTel] will strengthen core competencies and expand their market footprint,” reads the announcement. — Ashley Lo
IHH Healthcare to acquire Island Hospital in Penang for RM3.92 bil
IHH Healthcare has agreed to acquire Island Hospital in Penang from Affinity Equity Partners.
The group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pantai Holdings, entered into a sales and purchase agreement with Comprehensive Care, which is majority-controlled by Affinity Equity Partners, on Sept 4.
Under the agreement, IHH is set to acquire a 100% stake, or 20 million ordinary shares, in Island Hospital for a total equity consideration of RM3.92 billion ($1.18 billion).
According to the group, Island Hospital will integrate “seamlessly” into IHH’s portfolio of healthcare brands in Penang. The hospital, which was established in 1996, has nearly 119 resident and visiting specialists across nine Centres of Excellence.
As the largest private hospital in Penang with 600 beds, IHH will have over 1,000 operational beds in the city post-acquisition. According to the group, this will allow it to gain a larger share of medical travel in Malaysia.
Island Hospital is said to be the leading hospital for medical tourism with the hospital receiving about one in three inbound foreign patients to the country. Under Affinity’s ownership, the number of foreign patients to Island Hospital has more than tripled.
Moving forward, IHH expects more than RM200 million in synergies over the next five years following the acquisition.
Prem Kumar Nair, group CEO of IHH, says: “We expect significant synergies from the transaction and a unique opportunity to elevate Island Hospital as a leading integrated medical facility in Asia. In keeping with our ‘ACE’ framework, we will continue to drive sustainable growth in Malaysia and across our global network to deliver value for our stakeholders.”
Currently, Island Hospital holds a landbank valued at RM223.4 million, with approvals secured for future development.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 after which, Island Hospital will become the 18th hospital within IHH Healthcare Q0F Malaysia’s network. IHH Malaysia represents IHH Group’s healthcare network in Malaysia.
Jean-François Naa, CEO of IHH Healthcare Malaysia, says: “With the acquisition of Island Hospital, we are strengthening IHH Healthcare Malaysia’s footprint in Penang and enhancing our position as the leading private healthcare provider in Malaysia.” — Ashley Lo
SCI Ecommerce said to be considering IPO in S’pore
SCI Ecommerce is considering an IPO in Singapore as soon as mid-2025, according to people familiar with the matter.
SCI, which is backed by Singaporean buyout firm Asia Partners, is working with financial advisers on the potential share sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private. A listing could value the company at more than US$1 billion ($1.31 billion), they said.
Deliberations are ongoing, with details such as size still under consideration, the people said.
Representatives for Asia Partners and SCI declined to comment.
Asia Partners led a $50 million funding round for SCI in 2021. In an interview with Bloomberg News at the time, CEO Joseph Liu said SCI was planning to pursue an IPO in New York and a potential second listing in Singapore.
SCI helps brands such as Danone, Huggies, Nestle, Philips and Unilever set up and manage their online operations in Southeast Asia and China, according to its website. The company says it has over 6,000 online stores. — Bloomberg
Australia’s regulator approves network-sharing deal between Singtel’s Optus, TPG Telecom
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has given the go-ahead for the proposed regional network and spectrum sharing agreements between Singapore Telecommunications Z74 ’ (Singtel) Australian unit Optus and TPG Telecom.
Under the proposed regional Multi Operator Core Network (MOCN) arrangement, Optus will provide TPG Telecom with access to its regional radio access network and they will share spectrum in regional Australia.
Regional customers and communities will benefit from Optus’s plans to accelerate 5G roll-out in the regions, fast-tracking the number of 5G sites in those areas to 1,500 by the end of 2028 and 2,444 by the end of 2030.
Optus’ interim CEO Michael Venter says the ACCC’s decision is a great outcome for regional Australia, with the rollout of 5G infrastructure to be completed by around two years, earlier than previously planned.
“By sharing our infrastructure and technology, Optus and TPG will be able to deliver even more choice and better services for regional customers,” he adds.
The non-exclusive MOCN agreement has an initial term of 11 years and includes an option for TPG Telecom to extend the agreement for a further five years.
Subject to remaining regulatory approvals, the MOCN is expected to be available to TPG and Optus customers in early 2025. — Khairani Afifi Noordin
