Following Clis Investor Day Aussie Press Carries Story Cli Acquiring Wingate
On November 22, at its investor day, CapitaLand Investment (CLI) revealed its plans to expand its business in Australia. The company has recently appointed two senior hires to new roles in order to strengthen its talent bench and lead growth in its target market. The newly appointed CEO of CLI Australia, Angelo Scasserra, and Chief Investment Officer, Rahul Bharara, are expected to join the company in the first half of 2025.
CLI also announced that it will invest up to A$1 billion ($876.7 million) to grow its funds under management in Australia. In September, the company closed its Australian Credit Programme (ACP), a maiden credit fund with A$265 million in assets, backed by Asian investors.
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During the investor day, group CEO Lee Chee Koon stated, “For private credit, we’ve built our own team and formed a partnership with Wingate in Australia, originating and underwriting deals. There’s a lot of pipeline in Australia and Asia-Pacific that we can tap into.” Interestingly, on November 25, the Australian Financial Review published an article stating that CLI intends to acquire Wingate.
In 2014, CapitaLand sold its stake in Australand Property Group, which was later acquired by Frasers Property and renamed Frasers Property Australia. During the Q&A session of the investor day, CLI Chairman Miguel Ko addressed the decision to divest from Australand and increase investments in China. He stated that the decision was made before his time and declined to comment on the actions of his predecessors. He added, “We didn’t have a crystal ball to predict the current situation in China, and I don’t want to comment on whether their decisions were right or wrong.” At the time of the divestment, China was experiencing a boom, and CapitaLand had a significant competitive advantage. Ko acknowledged that it could have been a major win or a wrong move, but he did not want to comment on past decisions.
Former President and Group CEO Lim Ming Yan had stated that the divestment was made in “favorable” market conditions, and Australand’s share price had performed well in the months leading up to the sale. He also noted, “This divestment will allow us to reallocate capital to our core businesses in Singapore and China.” CapitaLand sold its remaining 39.1% stake in Australand in March 2014, following a partial divestment in November 2013, in an effort to improve trading liquidity in the company.
The AUM (assets under management) race is heating up, with CLI’s recent transaction bringing its FUM (funds under management) to $113 billion.