Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand has launched its second logistics private fund of Rs 2,250 crore to expand in India’s logistics sector, the company said in a statement.
The fund - CapitaLand India Logistics Fund II - will invest in the development of logistics assets in key warehousing and manufacturing hubs in six major cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR) and Pune, as well as in emerging markets such as Coimbatore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata and Lucknow.
CapitaLand India Logistics Fund II follows the successful deployment of CapitaLand’s first logistics private fund.
The first fund, launched in 2018 with a corpus of S$400 million, was deployed across six logistics and industrial projects in Bangalore, Chennai, NCR, and Pune.
The six projects have a total development potential of over 12 million sq ft of space.
Ascendas-Firstspace manages the assets of Ascendas India Logistics Programme and CapitaLand India Logistics Fund II.
“The launch of CapitaLand’s second logistics fund in India is in line with the group’s strategy to expand our fund management business to generate recurring fee related earnings (FRE) and grow the group’s assets under management (AUM) in a capital efficient way.
In 1Q 2021, CapitaLand’s FRE increased by more than 30% year-on-year. Our target is to grow CapitaLand’s FUM to at least S$100 billion by 2024. We will do so by raising new funds across geographies and asset classes, as well as supporting the growth of our existing REITs, business trusts and private funds. We will continue to leverage CapitaLand’s real estate investment and fund management capabilities to grow our funds in our core markets of Singapore, China, India and Vietnam as well as our focus markets such as Australia, USA and Europe where there is strong investor demand,” Jonathan Yap, president, CapitaLand Financial, CapitaLand Group, said.
“Expanding in new economy asset classes such as logistics will further diversify and strengthen the resilience of CapitaLand’s portfolio. We see significant opportunities in India’s logistics sector.
The sector has continued to thrive especially during the pandemic driven by the growing e-commerce and consumerism, generating strong demand for our quality warehouse and distribution facilities.
We will continue to invest in India’s logistics sector through our private funds and our business trust, Ascendas India Trust which currently has seven warehouses located at the Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone in Navi Mumbai.
In total, CapitaLand targets to develop a logistics portfolio of 20 to 25 million sq ft of space in India by 2025. With our second logistics fund, we will further extend our logistics presence in India and deliver more quality logistics facilities, while generating attractive returns for our investors,” Yap added.
“Ascendas-Firstspace has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2017. Currently we have six development assets across India and fully committed our first fund. The steady growth demonstrates our investment and asset management capabilities as well as our customer centric focus. The second fund will significantly increase our geographical footprint. With the growing penetration of e-commerce, modernisation of supply chain management and increased focus on manufacturing, we are well positioned to tap on the rising demand for high-quality logistics and industrial space in India,” Aloke Bhuniya, chief executive officer, Ascendas-Firstspace, said.
CapitaLand Group’s total logistics asset under management (AUM) is about S$3.9 billion.
The logistics market in India is forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 10.5% between 2019 and 2025.