Pan-Asia logistics real estate platform ESR on Wednesday announced that it has upsized its second development joint venture (ESR-KS II) in South Korea by up to $1 billion in total capital commitment.
ESR-KS II is ESR’s development JV with Dutch pension fund APG and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) established in June 2022 with $1 billion in initial allocation.
The JV invests in and develops a best-in-class industrial and warehouse logistics portfolio in the Seoul and Busan metropolitan areas – two markets with the largest population and highest consuming spending in Korea.
ESR-KS II has deployed over 80% of the initial $1 billion equity allocation in less than two years, with over 1.3 million square meters of Class A warehouse space under development.
ESR-KS II marks APG’s fourth development collaboration, and CPP Investments’ third joint venture with ESR. It is also a successor vehicle to ESR-KS I, a $1 billion joint venture, which was later upsized to $1.15 billion, between the three parties that has led to the development of 17 projects totalling 2.2 million sqm of gross floor area (GFA) in South Korea.
Thomas Nam, CEO of ESR-Kendall Square, the South Korean platform of ESR, said institutional investment in the Korean logistics sector remains very strong, on the back of e-commerce acceleration.
“The upsize of ESR-KS II reflects the collective confidence of our capital partners in ESR’s ability to capitalise on this secular opportunity,” Nam said.
CPP Investments head of Real Estate North Asia, Gilles Chow, said Korea is one of the most sophisticated internet and e-commerce markets globally and that the Canadian pension fund continues to see strong demand for logistics assets in the country.
“We are delighted to expand our successful partnership with APG and ESR to further capitalise on opportunities in the sector, which we believe will deliver steady, long-term returns for the CPP Fund,” Chow said.
The upsizing of ESR-KS II follows a wave of announcements by ESR this year. Early this week, ESR agreed to sell an 873,000-square meter balance sheet portfolio worth bout $730 million in China to an unnamed global institutional investor.
In May 2022, ESR Group also completed the successful tender of its 18.16% holding in China Logistics Property Holdings, representing $350 million of gross proceeds.
The Hong Kong-based firm also exited its investment in storage facilities manager China Logistics Property Holdings in May. ESR sold about 631 million shares or 18.16% stake in CNLP for HK$4.35 apiece, totalling about $350 million in cash.
The firm is the largest Asia Pacific-focused logistics real estate platform by gross floor area and by the value of the assets owned directly and by the funds and investment vehicles it manages.
The ESR platform spans major economies across the APAC region, including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, India, and Vietnam.