CAPITALAND Investment (CLI) will commit up to A$1 billion (S$878 million) to grow its funds under management (FUM) in Australia, said the group on Thursday (Nov 21).
Currently, it has more than A$9 billion of assets under management (AUM) in the country across logistics, business parks, lodging and commercial assets.
Andrew Lim, group chief operating officer of CLI, said: “A stable, open and developed market, Australia is one of CLI’s focus markets where we see huge potential for both organic and inorganic growth.”
The group has also appointed two senior hires into newly created roles to drive growth in its Australia business.
Angelo Scasserra will be chief executive officer of CLI Australia, while Rahul Bharara will join as chief investment officer. They will join the company in the first half of 2025.
Their job scopes include driving the growth of CLI Australia’s real estate private equity and credit funds, as well as working with the unit’s managing director Paul Toussaint to manage CLI’s AUM in Australia.
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Scasserra has more than 25 years of experience in real estate funds management, corporate finance and law. Prior to joining CLI, he was the head of real estate private capital at Barrenjoey Capital Partners – an investment banking firm in Australia.
Bharara, meanwhile, was a partner of real estate private capital at Barrenjoey Capital Partners. He was also managing director and head of real estate coverage at Credit Suisse Australia.
Lim said: “Their contributions will fuel CLI’s efforts to expand our investment products, capabilities and network to drive value creation for our partners.”
This announcement comes a few months after CLI closed its Australian Credit Program, which is the group’s maiden credit fund at A$265 million, backed by Asian investors.
On Wednesday, the group announced that it will buy an initial 40 per cent stake in Singapore-headquartered real estate investment manager SC Capital Partners for S$280 million.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, and is projected to increase CLI’s FUM by S$11 billion to a combined FUM of S$113 billion.
Noting that the majority of the S$11 billion FUM is in Japan, the group said the acquisition will significantly boost CLI’s presence in the country and further enhance its diversification.
Shares of CLI were trading 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$2.82 as at 1.07 pm on Thursday.
