ARA hires Hastings exec to lead new Asia infra platform – Exclusive

The Singapore-based real estate investment manager has made its first senior hire in the region to lead its infrastructure investing platform.

ARA Asset Management has made its first senior hire for its newly-established infrastructure funds management platform, as the Singapore-based real estate manager readies its foray into infrastructure investing.

The firm has appointed Kanishk Bhatia as head of infrastructure investment for Asia. Based in Singapore, Bhatia is responsible for origination, execution and management of investments across the region.

With over fifteen years of experience in the global infrastructure funds and private equity industry, Bhatia joins ARA from Hastings Funds Management, where he spent over 11 years in various senior roles, including investment director, head of Asia investments and head of India, according to information on his LinkedIn profile.

Last week, PERE broke the story on the real estate manager’s push into the infrastructure sector by setting up a dedicated platform based in Singapore. Asia and Europe are ARA’s target investment markets for potential infrastructure deals, and aiding the firm in that effort will be its newly-set up European operations. Earlier this year, the firm appointed Mark Ebbinghaus as senior adviser to drive its expansion initiatives in Europe.

Also joining ARA as one of the first Asia-focused property managers to debut into infrastructure investing is the logistics powerhouse GLP. This week, GLP announced a $2 billion joint venture partnership with Brookfield Asset Management aimed at providing solar panels across China.