Bousted Industrial Fund acquired the J’Forte Building in Singapore in 2023 (Source: Knight Frank)
Unified Industrial, a regional developer and fund manager backed by Macquarie Asset Management, has agreed to acquire the property and fund management business of SGX-listed Boustead Singapore to create a new platform with $3.5 billion in assets under management across Japan, China, Singapore and Vietnam.
Dubbed UIB, the platform will target investments in high-growth sectors, particularly logistics and data centres, the companies said Thursday in a release. As consideration, Boustead will receive a 21 percent stake in Unified Industrial valued at $78.6 million. Additionally, the engineering group controlled by Malaysian-born chairman and CEO Wong Fong Fui will make a capital commitment to Unified Industrial of at least $11.6 million, according to a stock filing.
The partnership reflects a shared ambition to create a leading logistics and industrial real estate franchise in Asia, leveraging the established brands of the two companies in their respective markets, said Unified Industrial founder and CEO Josh Olsan.
“UIB will bring differentiated origination capabilities and critical know-how that strengthens our ability to serve institutional investors and unlock value,” Olsan said.
Regional Reach
The merged entity combines Unified Industrial’s business in Japan and mainland China with Boustead’s operations in Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia to create a regional platform.
James Kemp, head of real estate for Asia Pacific at Macquarie Asset Management and chairman of UIB
“UI has an established and growing business in North Asia and is ready to expand beyond these markets,” said James Kemp, head of real estate for Asia Pacific at Macquarie Asset Management and chairman of UIB. “BPL, with its equivalent development led real estate capability in Southeast Asia, is an ideal partner to do this with and we are excited to be participating in this next stage of growth as UIB.”
Sydney-based Macquarie has made logistics one of the primary themes in its Asia Pacific strategy, including having invested in Unified Industrial in 2021. During the first two years after Macquarie invested in Hong Kong-based Unified Industrial, the company tripled its assets under management and set up three new ventures.
In June of last year, Macquarie reached a final close on its Macquarie Real Estate Partners opportunistic real estate fund at $1.9 billion in equity, with logistics one of the primary themes of the global strategy.
Singapore Portfolio Highlights
Boustead’s property and fund management business includes Boustead Industrial Fund, a vehicle sponsored with Metro Holdings and backed by an unnamed institutional investor believed to be the Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation. The fund’s assets under management in 2023 totalled S$749 million (now $561.5 million) across 16 properties in Singapore, following the acquisition of the J’Forte Building in Paya Lebar that year for S$98.8 million.
The Industrial Fund’s other assets include the Edward Boustead Centre, an eight-storey light industry facility in Geylang that serves as Boustead Singapore’s headquarters, and the GSK Building in One-North, the regional home of the biotech giant once known as GlaxoSmithKline.
The business also manages the Boustead Development Partnership — a joint venture launched in 2017 with the Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation through a UBS-managed fund — and holds a 50 percent stake in Echo Base, a JV with Razer CEO Min Liang Tan that owns the headquarters building of the Singapore-based computer hardware maker.
The absorption of the business into the new platform comes after Boustead sought opportunities to scale up its real estate and fund management arm, said Wong Yu Wei, deputy chairman of property division Boustead Projects and chief operating officer of Boustead Singapore.
“The creation of UIB allows us to combine forces as partners and ramp up the business, integrating our respective capabilities to further expand across key Asian markets,” Wong said.
Footprint Growing Again
Founded in 2008 in Japan, Unified Industrial expanded into China in 2016 and has invested in and developed $4.7 billion worth of logistics, industrial and commercial assets spanning over 2.1 million square metres (22.6 million square feet).
The company received an investment in 2021 from Macquarie’s Real Estate Partners Asia I opportunistic fund, which closed on A$1.1 billion (now $740 million) in committed equity that year and is understood to have originally taken a 30 percent stake in Unified Industrial.
“We are pleased to be able to bring together UI and BPL,” Macquarie’s Kemp said. “Our investment in UI followed our strategy of identifying real estate capability in sectors and markets in which we have strong conviction and then working to institutionalise and grow those businesses. This transaction continues this approach.”
Macquarie Asset Management was one of the early backers in Australia and China-based logistics platform Logos before that company was acquired by ARA Asset Management in 2020.
Boustead Singapore privatised its property division two years ago in a bid to focus on rebuilding its engineering and construction business and reduce reporting and compliance obligations related to the unit being a listed company.
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