CapitaLand eyes to double AUM to Rs 36,000 crore in next five years

CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups, plans to grow its assets under management (AUM) in the group’s key market India, from the current Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 36,200 crore by 2024. This development comes after CapitaLand’s merger with Ascendas-Singbridge in June this year.

To achieve the target, CapitaLand will invest capital to grow development pipeline and work with capital partners to grow fund management business in the next five years. 

“CapitaLand’s integration of Ascendas-Singbridge portfolio since July 2019 has strengthened our competitive edge globally and in India, one of our strategic markets for growth where we have fully integrated capabilities. We see strong potential to leverage new economy trends such as the growth in e-commerce, urbanisation and knowledge economies to expand in the Business Park and logistics sectors, which are core sectors for the India economy,” Lee Chee Koon, Group CEO, CapitaLand Group said. 

For its lodging business under Ascott, it will continue to build on the recurring fee income by seeking opportunities to expand primarily through management contracts, franchises and leases in key cities.

CapitaLand has 17.4 million square feet of commercial space comprising business and IT parks, industrial and logistics properties in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. “Around 80 percent of the portfolio is under Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) and two private funds - Ascendas India Growth Programme and Ascendas India Logistics Programme, and 20 percent is under its balance sheet,” the company said.

CapitaLand’s business parks in India have an occupancy rate of over 95 percent catering to both multinational corporations and local companies that employ over 1.2 lakh skilled professionals. “With India’s growing young workforce, e-commerce, IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) sectors and demand for high-quality logistics facilities, the target is to double CapitaLand’s business and IT parks, industrial and logistics properties to about 40 million square feet by 2024,” the company said.

In India, CapitaLand also has a network of more than 1,500 units across 10 lodging properties owned and /or managed by its wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott). Three properties are operating in Chennai and Mumbai, and seven serviced residences are to be opened by 2022. This includes Ascott Ireo City Gurugram, the first serviced residence in India under the luxury Ascott The Residence brand, Citadines Paras Square Gurugram, and Citadines Sri City, all slated to open in 2020.

The company has brought in another 7.2 million square feet through forward purchases have been signed up and are under construction. This includes IT parks in Mumbai and Hyderabad, a seventh warehouse at Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone, Panvel, near Navi Mumbai, and BlueRidge 3, an IT/ITES Special Economic Zone development in Hinjewadi Phase 1 in Pune. CapitaLand is also building up a logistics asset portfolio in India with 4.3 million sq ft planned for development.  

CapitaLand has one of the largest real estate investment management businesses globally. It manages eight listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and business trusts as well as over 20 private funds.