CLI Expands Presence in Australia with A$200M Acquisition of Wingate Group Holdings
CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is making significant strides in the Australian market with the recent acquisition of the property and corporate credit investment management business of Wingate Group Holdings for A$200 million.
This acquisition, coupled with an earn-out, will add A$2.5 billion to Wingate’s total funds under management and increase CLI’s total FUM in Australia by 30% to $8.3 billion. This accounts for approximately 7% of CLI’s total FUM of $115 billion.
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CLI has set a target to reach $200 billion in FUM by 2028 and has committed to investing up to A$1 billion to achieve this goal. This renewed focus on the Australian market comes a decade after the previous board and management divested its key assets in Australia to concentrate on China and other overseas markets.
The announcement of the acquisition, made on December 16th before market open, confirms earlier reports by the Australian media last month. Wingate is a leading private credit investment manager in Australia with a track record of completing more than 350 transactions worth over A$20 billion.
CLI is familiar with Wingate as they announced the close of their A$265 million Australian Credit Program (ACP) in partnership with Wingate in September. According to CLI, Wingate will provide access to an extensive network of deal origination, institutional and private high-net-worth investors, and increase CLI’s exposure to the Australian market.
Paul Tham, CLI’s Group CFO, states that there are also promising private credit opportunities in other Asia Pacific markets, including South Korea, India, and Japan. He adds, “As we continue to expand geographically, Australia is one of CLI’s focus markets where we see tremendous growth potential.”
According to CLI, the Australian private capital market has grown 33% in the past 18 months, with assets under management reaching A$139 billion. It is projected that there will be a funding gap of A$146 billion in commercial mortgages by 2028.
The addition of Wingate will enhance CLI’s portfolio, which currently includes logistics, business parks, office, and lodging assets across nine cities in Australia. As of September 30th, CLI manages 34 logistics properties and business parks and four Grade A office buildings in Australia. It also has over 13,500 lodging units in more than 150 properties through its wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott.