GIC and NOVA to establish rental apartment platform in China
GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, will be partnering with NOVA, a fully integrated operator and investment manager headquartered in Shanghai and co-founded by Warburg Pincus, to establish a RMB4.3 billion ($675 million) rental apartment platform in China.
“Our vision is to become a leading investment and asset management platform in the urban renewal and rental apartment sector, to deliver the best-in-class investment, renovation and operation services,” said Wang Qian, NOVA’s co-founder, chairman and co-CEO.
The platform will seek to invest in quality rental apartment projects in core locations across Tier 1 cities. GIC also will be acquiring a minority stake in NOVA.
Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer of GIC Real Estate, said, “As a long-term value investor, we are attracted by the promising outlook of China’s fast-growing rental apartment sector, with demand driven by changing demographic trends and cultural shifts towards city-living. There is a large and growing population of renters within our target income group, with a limited supply of quality institutionally-owned and professionally-managed projects.”
“As one of the most active and experienced private equity investor in China’s real estate sector, we are a firm believer in the long-term apartment rental industry driven by continued urbanization and demand for high-quality rental properties in China,” said Joseph Gagnon, managing director and head of Asia real estate at Warburg Pincus. “Since co-founding NOVA in 2015, we have been deeply impressed and pleased with NOVA’s growth under the leadership of Qian Wang and Jerry Shen. The partnership with GIC will take NOVA into a new stage of growth to further solidify its leadership position.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals by the relevant authorities.
