CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) has announced the acquisition of the property and corporate credit investment management business of Wingate Group Holdings for A$200 million ($173 million) with an additional earn-out.
This acquisition will add A$2.5 billion to CLI’s funds under management (FUM) in Australia, increasing its total FUM to $8.3 billion, which represents around 7% of its total FUM of $115 billion. The company has a target to reach $200 billion in FUM by 2028.
The acquisition is part of CLI’s commitment to invest up to A$1 billion to grow its FUM in Australia, a market it had divested from a decade ago to focus on faster-growing markets such as China and other overseas markets. This latest move is a reflection of CLI’s renewed focus and commitment to Australia.
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Wingate is a leading and one of the largest private credit investment managers in Australia with a successful track record of completing more than 350 transactions worth over A$20 billion. CLI has already worked with Wingate in September to close the A$265 million Australia Credit Program (ACP).
CLI believes that Wingate will help to expand its proprietary deal origination networks, provide access to more institutional and high-net-worth investors, and increase its geographical exposure to Australia. Paul Tham, CLI’s group CFO, sees significant potential for growth in Australia and believes it is one of CLI’s focus markets as it accelerates its geographical diversification efforts.
CLI is also looking at other Asia Pacific markets for private credit opportunities, including South Korea, India, and Japan. The Australian private capital market has grown by 33% in the past 18 months, with assets under management reaching A$139 billion. There is forecasted to be a A$146 billion commercial mortgage funding gap by 2028.
With Wingate, CLI can further diversify its portfolio, which currently consists of logistics, business parks, offices, and lodging assets in nine cities in Australia. As of September, CLI manages 34 logistics properties and business parks and four Grade A office buildings in Australia. It also has over 13,500 lodging units across more than 150 properties under its wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott.