A joint venture (JV) platform by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Australia-listed Lendlease Group has acquired a $1.6 billion portfolio of assets in Singapore.
The assets, which have a total gross floor area (GFA) of 4.5 million sq ft, were acquired from entities associated with Blackstone and Lim Chap Huat, the executive chairman of Soilbuild Group Holdings, said the joint release by Warburg Pincus and Lendlease on Aug 27. The portfolio comprises high quality business parks and specialist facilities that are tenanted to blue chip companies across life sciences, technology, advanced manufacturing and logistics.
Representing one of the largest transactions of a private portfolio of industrial assets in Singapore, the acquisition marks the first transaction for the JV platform since it was launched on July 31. The platform was established to focus on life sciences and research & development (R&D) real estate in Asia Pacific (APAC).
Following the acquisition, the JV platform will have over $2 billion of assets under management (AUM).
“We are delighted to be completing this landmark acquisition shortly after establishing the JV platform. The portfolio gives us immediate scale in the tightly held Singapore market, cementing our position as one of the top industrial asset owners in Singapore and reiterating our conviction in the life sciences and R&D sector,” says Takashi Murata, managing director, co-head of Asia real estate and head of Japan at Warburg Pincus.
“This strategic acquisition underscores our commitment to the rapidly expanding life sciences and R&D real estate market in Asia Pacific. The platform is well-positioned to capture opportunities in the sector. We look forward to building momentum and further scaling the business, as well as driving performance for our investment partners,” adds Justin Gabbani, CEO investment management, Lendlease.
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Tan Peng Wei, senior managing director in real estate, Blackstone, says: “This has been a terrific investment where we privatised high-quality assets and positioned them for long-term success. It demonstrates how our high-conviction thematic investment approach, which focuses on global growth markets such as Singapore, consistently delivers for our investors.”
Lim Chap Huat, chairman, Soilbuild Group, adds: “We’ve enjoyed a great partnership with Blackstone over the last three years, which has culminated in these assets becoming one of the highest quality portfolios catering to some of Singapore’s top companies in fast-growing sectors. We will continue our work on the remaining assets with Blackstone, benefitting from its scale and expertise.”
As at 10.47am (SGT), shares in Lendlease Group are trading 1.5 Australian cents lower or 0.22% down at A$6.71 ($5.93).
