Warburg Pincus-backed Asian warehouse developer and operator e-Shang Redwood has agreed to buy an 80% indirect stake in the manager of Cambridge Industrial Trust from National Australia Bank and investment firm Oxley Group, the firms said today.
No financial details were disclosed.
The deal marks e-Shang Redwood's continued expansion in Asia, following the firm's $300 million capital raising from Ping An Real Estate to fund Japan projects last year and a US$300 million pre-IPO round from a group of Chinese investors earlier this month.
"Our investment underscores our confidence in the underlying fundamentals and quality of Cambridge Industry Trust's portfolio of assets, which provide us a strong platform for further diversification and growth into Singapore and key markets across Asia," said e-Shang Redwood's co-CEOs Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson in a securities filing today.
In October 2016, e-Shang Redwood entered into an option agreement to buy up to 10.65% of Cambridge Industry Trust from three existing unitholders.
National Australia Bank held a 56% stake in the manager of Cambridge Industry Trust, while Oxley held a 24% interest in the real estate investment trust that owns assets including warehouses and logistics properties. Mitsui & Co. owns the remaining 20%.
e-Shang Redwood was created by the merger between e-Shang and Redwood Group in January 2016. It is the second largest developer in North Asia with more than US$5 billion of assets under management across China, South Korea and Japan.
eShang was originally founded in 2011 by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Chinese real estate entrepreneur Sun Dongping.