CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) announced at its investor day on Nov 22 that it will be expanding its business in Australia. To support this growth, the company has appointed two senior hires to newly created roles – Angelo Scasserra as CEO of CLI Australia and Rahul Bharara as chief investment officer. The two leaders are expected to join the company in the first half of 2025.
In line with its expansion plans, CLI has also committed to investing up to A$1 billion ($876.7 million) to increase its funds under management (FUM) in Australia. In September, the company completed the closing of its Australian Credit Programme (ACP), which was CLI’s first credit fund at A$265 million, supported by funding from investors in Asia.
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During the investor day, Lee Chee Koon, group CEO of CLI, shared that the company has also built its own private credit team and formed a partnership with teams from Wingate in Australia. This has enabled CLI to originate and underwrite deals in both Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, with a strong pipeline for future growth.
On Nov 25, the Australian Financial Review published an article stating that CLI was planning to acquire Wingate. In 2014, CapitaLand had divested its stake in Australand Property Group, which was subsequently acquired by Frasers Property and renamed Frasers Property Australia. During the Q&A session, Miguel Ko, chairman of CLI, addressed the company’s decision to sell Australand and focus on China.
Ko stated that the decision to sell Australand and invest in China was made before his time and he did not want to comment on his predecessors’ decisions. He added that at the time, China was experiencing a booming economy and CapitaLand had a strong competitive advantage. However, the company “did not have a crystal ball” about the current situation in China, and he did not wish to speculate on whether the decision was right or wrong.
Previously, Lim Ming Yan, CapitaLand’s then-president and group CEO, had stated that the divestment was made during “favourable” market conditions and Australand’s share price had been performing well before the sale. The sale allowed CapitaLand to reallocate capital to its core businesses in Singapore and China. In March 2014, CapitaLand sold its remaining 39.1% stake in Australand, after partially divesting its stake in November 2013 to improve trading liquidity.
With the recent acquisition, CLI’s FUM has increased to $113 billion, making it one of the leading players in the race to increase assets under management (AUM). The company remains committed to its expansion plans in Australia and looks forward to the leadership of Scasserra and Bharara in driving this growth.