CapitaLand China Mall REIT Jumps 13% in First Day of Trading

Trading for CapitaLand Investment’s first domestically listed REIT of Chinese assets rose 12.6 percent in its first day of trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday after raising RMB 2.29 billion ($322 million) through its IPO.

Seeded with one mall each in Guangzhou and Changsha, CapitaLand Commercial C-REIT (CLCR) opened at RMB 6.84 per unit, which was 19.6 percent above its initial public offering price of RMB 5.718 ($0.24) and closed at RMB 6.44.

“The successful listing of CLCR marks a watershed moment for both CapitaLand Investment and the C-REIT market,” said Puah Tze Shyang, CEO of CapitaLand Investment China. “By bringing global best practices and over 30 years of experience in China, we are building a high-quality C-REIT platform that delivers long-term value to investors.”

CapitaLand’s new listed vehicle is China’s first REIT of retail properties to have been sponsored by a foreign investor and is the company’s eighth fund to be hosted on a stock exchange. The Temasek-controlled giant positions CLCR as a domestic complement to CapitaLand China Trust, a Singapore-listed REIT aimed at international investors.

$322M IPO

The RMB 2.29 billion IPO for CLCR exceeded earlier estimates by 7 percent, CapitaLand said in a release, with the sponsor issuing 400 million units. Based on the IPO price, the REIT is expected to provide a distribution yield of 4.4 percent for 2025 and 4.53 percent for 2026.

CLCR focuses on income-producing retail assets in China’s top tier cities and could potentially acquire assets from CapitaLand Investment’s 43 operational retail properties across 18 Chinese cities, with that portfolio representing assets under management of S$18 billion ($13.7 billion). 

The REIT’s seed properties, CapitaMall SKY+ in Guangzhou and CapitaMall Yuhuating in Changsha, have a total gross floor area of 168,405 square metres (1.8 million square feet) and an aggregate committed occupancy of 97 percent, according to CapitaLand Investment.

Located 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Guangzhou’s central business district in the Guangdong capital’s Pearl River New Town, CapitaMall SKY+ is jointly owned by SGX-listed CapitaLand Investment and unlisted CapitaLand Development. 

CapitaMall Yuhuating, in the Dongtang retail hub of the Hunan provincial capital of Changsha, is currently held by Singapore-listed CapitaLand China Trust. The pair of malls are valued at a combined RMB 2.8 billion.

Domestic and International Backing

CapitaLand Investment, CapitaLand Development and CapitaLand China Trust collectively hold at least 20 percent of the IPO units as joint investors. As the REIT’s sponsor and asset manager, CapitaLand Investment will continue to operate the two seed malls.

Cornerstone investors, which include a fund managed by state-backed Shoucheng Holdings, Shoucheng Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed investment firm controlled by Chinese state-owned steelmaker Shougang Group and backed by Japan’s ORIX Group, New World Development’s Cheng family and Beijing-based private equity firm HOPU Investments, is the REIT’s largest external cornerstone investor.

Other backers with cornerstone stakes include Ping An Insurance, Allianz Asset Management, Aviva-Cofco Life Insurance, CITIC and CICC. Together the cornerstone group holds 40.11 percent of the trust, according to a disclosure by the trust’s manager China Asset Management Co Ltd.