American private equity firm Warburg Pincus is set to raise its holding in Singaporean real estate fund manager ARA Asset Management Ltd (ARA) to 48.7%.
Previously, Warburg Pincus had a 30.7% interest in the fund manager.
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Warburg Pincus managing director, head of Southeast Asia, Jeffrey Perlman said: “The substantial increase in our shareholding in ARA demonstrates our strong confidence in its scalable business model and John’s visionary leadership.
“We look forward to leveraging our strong capital base to help the business become the largest real estate fund management platform in Asia Pacific and one of the largest globally.”
Meanwhile, AVIC Trust has quit as a shareholder. The firm owned a 20.48% stake in ARA.
Additionally, ARA co-founder and group CEO John Lim, as well as CK Asset Holdings and The Straits Trading Company have agreed to raise their stake from an aggregate 48.8% to 51.3%.
The changes will occur over a series of secondary transactions.
Lim stated: “With the strong support of our formidable shareholders, ARA has enjoyed a significant growth trajectory since its privatisation. The gross assets managed by the Group and its Associates has more than doubled since privatisation, and our footprint has expanded to more than 100 cities across 28 countries.
“The investment from our shareholders demonstrates their confidence in our solid track record and future growth potential.”
