ESR pays $7.1b for ARA AM
Hong Kong listed ESR is paying $7.07 billion (US$5.2b) for Singapore’s ARA Asset Management.
The deal will see the buyer become Asia Pacific’s largest – and the world’s third biggest – real estate manager, with assets worth $175.6b (US$129b).
Its next Asia-based rival is less than half the size.
Established in 2002, ARA holds properties in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vietnam.
In Melbourne, the group’s assets include the Southgate complex and an office under construction in East Melbourne (artist’s impression, top).
It also owns a controlling stake in industrial manager and developer LOGOS.
ESR, which was established in 2016 and listed three years later, will fund its acquisition through the issue of 1.234 million shares priced at $4.72, loans and $706m cash (story continues below).
The deal, which requires shareholder approval, is expected to settle in the first quarter of 2022.
“This is an exciting time for ESR and we look forward to the promising future the combined platform is set to bring about,” co-founders and joint chief executive officers, Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson said.
“Post transaction, the enlarged ESR…will witness immediate growth in size, scale and offerings – as global investors seek to give more capital to increasingly fewer managers,” they added.
“Additionally, we have always believed in the growth of logistics and data centre real estate and this transaction accelerates our vision considerably,” according to the executives.
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