Deals

Goldman leads process on Asian real estate giant

Investors in Hopu Masterfund II can roll into a continuation fund with real estate investor and operator GLP China or sell their stakes in a deal that could be worth as much as $2bn.

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Goldman Sachs is set to lead a single-asset deal focused on one of Asia’s largest distribution and logistics firms, sister title Secondaries Investor has learned.

Hopu Investment Management is moving its stake in GLP China into a new vehicle anchored by the asset manager’s secondaries arm, according to three sources with knowledge of the deal. Limited partners in Hopu Master Fund II have the option to roll with the asset or sell to Goldman and a syndicate of investors.

Several co-investors are invested in GLP China alongside Hopu. The deal could be worth between $600 million and $2 billion in size, depending on how many of them participate, Secondaries Investor understands.

Lazard is understood to be advising on the process.

GLP China is a subsidiary of Singapore-based GLP, a logistics real estate investor, developer and operator with more than $100 billion in assets under management. It is the fourth largest private real estate investor in the world according to the latest annual ranking compiled by affiliate publication PERE.

GLP China is 66 percent owned by its parent company and its business model is the same, according to Standard & Poor’s. It is the largest logistics space provider in China, accruing as much as $930 million in rental revenues during 2020, the ratings agency said.

As well as owning a direct stake in GLP China, Hopu owns 21.3 percent of the parent company alongside Hillhouse Capital, real estate developer Vanke, Bank of China Group Investment and SMG Eastern, which is owned by GLP’s chief executive Ming Mei, according to data from law firm Clifford Chance.

The Chinese consortium took GLP private in 2017 in a deal valuing the business at S$16 billion ($12.1 billion; €10 billion).

Hopu was founded in 2007 by Goldman Sachs China partner Fang Fenglei, Goldman’s co-head of China investment banking Richard Ong, and Dominic Ho, who had been a partner at KPMG. The firm raised a $2.5 billion debut fund before Ong and Ho retired in 2010, leaving only Fenglei.

Master Fund II launched in 2013 and raised at least $1.1 billion against a $2 billion target, according to PEI data. It is not clear when the fund held its final close and on how much. LPs include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which committed $150 million, Goldman Sachs and Temasek.

Goldman did not wish to comment. Hopu and Lazard did not respond to requests for comment.