The portfolio includes the Solaris building in the city-state’s One North district
A recently launched joint venture of US fund manager Warburg Pincus and Australia’s Lendlease has acquired a S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) portfolio of Singapore business parks and R&D facilities from entities linked to private equity giant Blackstone and Soilbuild Group chairman Lim Chap Huat.
The buy represents the fourth-largest trade of a real estate portfolio in Singapore history, according to records from MSCI. The transaction also marks the first deal under the Warburg Pincus-Lendlease life sciences JV since it reached a final closing in late July, the partners said Tuesday in a release. The portfolio spans 4.5 million square feet (418,064 square metres) of gross floor area leased to companies in life sciences, technology, advanced manufacturing and logistics.
“The portfolio gives us immediate scale in the tightly held Singapore market, cementing our position as one of the top industrial asset owners in Singapore and reiterating our conviction in the life sciences and R&D sector,” said Takashi Murata, managing director and co-head of Asia real estate at Warburg Pincus.
The portfolio, which includes the 442,755 square foot Solaris building in the city-state’s One North district, was formerly part of SGX-listed Soilbuild Business Space REIT, which Blackstone and the Lim family took private in 2021 for S$700 million (then $524.5 million).
High-Conviction Payoff
In a separate announcement, Blackstone and Soilbuild said they would continue their partnership through investments in other assets, with Lim praising the “scale and expertise” afforded by the Manhattan-based group.
Takashi Murata, managing director and co-head of Asia real estate at Warburg Pincus
“This has been a terrific investment where we privatised high-quality assets and positioned them for long-term success,” said Peng Wei Tan, senior managing director in real estate at Blackstone. “It demonstrates how our high-conviction thematic investment approach, which focuses on global growth markets such as Singapore, consistently delivers for our investors.”
Warburg and Lendlease have committed several hundred million dollars each to their 50:50 partnership, a source told Mingtiandi earlier this month. The Singapore-based JV was seeded with Lendlease’s APAC life sciences project construction management business and an asset management company that owns Leaf Minatomirai, a Japanese mall which the Sydney-based builder converted into an R&D workplace.
The Soilbuild portfolio brings the venture’s assets under management to more than S$2 billion and underscores the partners’ commitment to the life sciences and R&D real estate market in Asia Pacific, said Justin Gabbani, CEO of investment management at Lendlease.
“We look forward to building momentum and further scaling the business, as well as driving performance for our investment partners,” Gabbani said.
Industrial Strength
The portfolio transaction was brokered by CBRE’s industrial and logistics team. The consultancy declined to comment on the specifics of the deal, but Loh Lee Fen, head of Singapore industrial capital markets, said real estate funds are seeking the stable, income-based returns provided by the Lion City’s market.
CBRE continues to see outsized investor liquidity for Singapore industrial properties, according to Rimon Ambarchi, head of Southeast Asia industrial and logistics.
“In particular, large industrial portfolio opportunities are in high demand as investors look to build scale in what they consider to be one of Asia’s strongest industrial markets,” Ambarchi said.
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