(Corrects paragraph 12 to remove Capital after Hillhouse, as it is its former name)
By Yantoultra Ngui and Kane Wu
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) -The property investment arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.Com and two other firms plan to launch a Singapore-based real estate investment trust (REIT) with assets potentially valued at more than $1 billion, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
JD Property, the unlisted infrastructure investment and asset management platform of JD.Com, is setting up the REIT with Swiss investment firm Partners Group and EZA Hill Property, which is backed by Asian investment firm Hillhouse, the sources said.
The planned REIT could be listed on the Singapore Exchange as soon as next year, added the sources, who declined to be named as the matter is private. The REIT plan has not been reported previously.
If successful, the JD Property-backed REIT would be one of the largest new entrants in Singapore’s REIT space in more than a year, signalling growing confidence in the sector and underscoring the increasing role of Chinese capital in Southeast Asia.
The setting up of the planned REIT comes after JD Property, Partners Group and EZA Hill jointly purchased four logistics assets from CapitaLand Ascendas REIT for S$306 million ($238.56 million) this month, the sources said.
The three investors are currently finalising the REIT’s asset composition, which is expected to include industrial properties in Singapore that the consortium acquired from CapitaLand, they added.
JD.com, JD Property, Partners Group and EZA Hill did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. CapitaLand declined to identify the purchaser of the logistics assets.
JD Property, Partners Group and EZA Hill plan to scale up the Singaporean REIT across Southeast Asia, targeting further acquisitions of industrial and logistics assets, a third source said.
The companies are working toward completing the REIT’s establishment by October, and its final valuation may shift depending on the asset mix, the first two sources said.
The latest REIT plan in Singapore comes amid a tentative revival in the city’s REIT market, which had seen a lull in new listings since 2021 due to rising interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty.
The recent initial public offering of NTT DC REIT, Singapore’s largest listing since 2021, and the surge in the benchmark index to record highs since late July show renewed investor appetite amid efforts by the city-state to boost its equities market.
LISTING PLAN
EZA Hill, one of JD Property’s partners in the REIT, is backed by Rava Partners, the real assets investment arm of Hillhouse. The firm has been actively acquiring logistics and industrial assets across Southeast Asia.