GLP Capital Partners Closes on $240M for China Value-Add Fund

GLP Capital Partners said on Monday that it has raised RMB 1.75 billion ($240 million) in fresh capital for a China value-add strategy, marking its second major closing for a mainland investment vehicle this year.

The fund management division of industrial giant GLP said it raised the equity offshore from an unnamed global institutional investor, and that after leveraging, the capital will be invested into a target portfolio of GLP-developed warehouses valued at round RMB 3.5 billion.

“This offshore fundraise expands our value-add series in China and serves as a complement to our onshore RMB income strategies which continue to grow alongside strong investor interest,” said Teresa Zhuge, executive vice Chairman and president for China at GLP Capital Partners.

This latest milestone comes after GLP had announced in November last year that it had raised $1.2 billion in equity for its fourth China value-add series with backing from Dutch pension fund manager APG and other institutional partners.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong

“The successful closings are a vote of confidence from our investors and demonstrates the resiliency of the logistics sector in China as well as the quality of GLP’s assets,” Zhuge said in Monday’s statement. “We are excited to continue partnering with new and returning LPs who appreciate our long-term track records of disciplined performance across market cycles.”

The seed portfolio for this latest vehicle comprises four income-generating logistics industrial parks in Beijing, Shanghai and the Greater Bay Area spanning net leasable area of more than 420,000 square metres (4.5 million square feet). The parks serve customers in advanced manufacturing, including new energy vehicle producers, the company said.

The value-add capital commitment comes after GLP Capital Partners in July had reached a RMB 2.6 billion final closing of its eighth China income fund, with that vehicle holding more than RMB 5 billion worth of core logistics assets across a gross floor area of 870,000 square metres.

Expanding China Bets

GLP Capital Partners, which was officially spun off from GLP in February of this year, manages around $58 billion in assets across China on behalf of over 90 institutional private capital partners including more than 60 domestic institutional investors, the company said.

Within this year company has raised approximately $2 billion of capital across its onshore and offshore China strategies including both real assets and private equity.

GLP raised its first China value-add fun in 2018 on behalf of mainland insurer China Life, with the vehicle receiving equity commitments of RMB 10 billion. Since launching its first RMB strategy in 2017, by July of this year the company had developed 20 China strategies, including both private equity and real estate, managing RMB 128 billion.