CapitaLand To Raise Investment In Japanese Properties 10-Fold To Y180bn

Friday, August 26, 2005

CapitaLand To Raise Investment In Japanese Properties 10-Fold To Y180bn

TOKYO (Nikkei)--CapitaLand, a Singapore government-affiliated real estate company, is set to expand the combined assets of its investment funds targeting Japanese real estate to more than 180 billion yen within three years, 10 times the current levels, said President and CEO Liew Mun Leong on Thursday.

The Capital Retail Japan Fund, an investment fund the company formed to acquire Japanese commercial facilities, currently has a pool of 44 billion yen collected from investors.

The firm will add borrowed funds to this amount to pump more money into Japanese shopping centers and other facilities in the years to come, aiming to bring the total amount of its assets to 150 billion yen in three years from the current 13 billion yen-plus, he said.

The largest realty firm in Southeast Asia has another investment fund, jointly set up with Arcapita, a Bahrain investment bank. The fund recently purchased Japanese condominiums for 4.5 billion yen. It plans to expand its total investment in Japanese real estate to some 30 billion over the next 18 months.

(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday morning edition)