UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) business in Singapore has been awarded a real estate mandate by the Boustead Development Partnership, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and developer Boustead Projects Limited, to manage an equity commitment of €159.4m (USD 170m) to be invested into the development / redevelopment of new industrial facilities in Singapore. Once fully invested and leveraged, the investment portfolio will be worth in excess of €516m (USD 550m).
The new mandate is the second to be awarded to REPM’s Asia Pacific Real Estate business by the sovereign wealth fund and €77.9m (USD 83m) has already been committed across four projects of which two have been completed. One of the initial investments was the new regional headquarters for GlaxoSmithKline, which was completed in November 2016. The 14,350m² asset is located in the 200 hectare One North precinct, an area in the heart of Singapore designed to host a cluster of world-class research facilities and business park space.
The two latest investments, agreed in January 2017, include a 39,487m² mixed-use development located at Mediapolis, also in Singapore's One North precinct, and Continental Building Phase 3, a 11,151m² research and development centre located in Kallang iPark, which will be developed for Continental Automotive Singapore Pte Ltd. Both have targeted completion dates in 2018.
Graham Mackie, Head of Real Estate Asia Pacific, said: "This mandate from the Boustead Development Partnership is another significant step forward in the growth of the REPM platform in Asia-Pacific, and importantly it is one that was borne from our existing strong relationships. Moreover, it is reflective of our Singapore team’s real estate expertise and our capabilities in seeing significant projects through from planning to completion.
“We are continuing to see strong interest for real estate investment in our priority markets of Japan, Australia, China and Singapore, as well as demand from Asia Pacific investors seeking exposure to Europe, the US and emerging markets such as Brazil. Our Mandates team in Singapore is now managing over USD 1.3bn of committed equity on behalf of institutional and private wealth clients, which equates to a total portfolio value of around USD 3bn once fully invested.”
The Asia Pacific Real Estate business of REPM has grown to become one of the largest real estate investment managers in the region, with over USD 13bn in assets under management. Its platform in Japan, through a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation, is now the country's largest J-REIT manager and is seeking to further expand through the management of private funds and mandates. Building on a successful track record, the team is in the process of bringing to market new investment opportunities in China, a key strategic focus of REPM, while in Australia the team continues to deliver strong investment performance on existing assets under management.
