Deals

GLP completes $2.5bn fundraise for China platform

Confirming a second tranche of funding from Chinese investors of $875 million, the Asia and Brazil focused logistics real estate developer and investment manager has now completed its funding program for its China business.  

-

Global Logistic Properties (GLP), the Singapore-listed developer and fund manager has completed a capital raising initiative with domestic investors that has seen it bring aboard $2.5 billion in equity.

 

The second and final tranche consisted of $875 million. The investment was made in China Holdco, GLP’s wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary. With this capital now injected, the investors hold a 33.8 percent stake in the holding company.

 

In February, the Chinese logistics giant announced plans to raise the $2.5 billion from a group of state-owned companies and financial institutions to expand its operations in the country.

 

Participating investors include China Life Insurance Company, China Development Bank International Holdings and China Infrastructure Partners, which is part of the Bank of China International Group, China Materials Storage and Transportation Development Company and logistics company Sinotrans.

 

In the first tranche completed in June, GLP secured $1.48 million investment. An additional $163 million was raised for the company’s listed entity in Singapore, reflecting a 1.5 percent stake for the investors.

 

“Our partnerships with these top-tier institutions provides the three factors we believe are critical to solidify our market leadership: access to land, access to customers and access to capital,” Ming Mei, chief executive officer, GLP said in a statement.

 

Adding further, Jeffrey Schwartz, chairman of the executive committee, said that the company has been able to ‘leverage the investors’ customer relationships and access to well-located land to establish significant partnerships and acquire large-scale strategic sites.”

 

The completion of the funding program further establishes the firm as the biggest creator and investor in institutional grade logistics in China. GLP’s logistics developments in China already amount to more than those of all its competitors combined. According to the firm’s latest annual report, its closest competitor in the country is US-based developer Prologis, which had 9.7 million square feet of completed property compared to GLP’s 61 million square feet.