Hong Kong-listed real estate investment manager ESR Group has signed agreements to acquire the remaining 13.6% equity interest in logistics property specialist LOGOS held by its founders.
The move accelerates the acquisition from the original January 2025 target, bringing forward the benefits of a fully integrated platform for its investors and customers across Asia-Pacific, ESR says in a statement.
The combination of the two businesses creates a highly scaled platform under the ESR brand with assets under management of US$156 billion, as of December 31 2023.
It cements the group’s new economy leadership position in APAC with AUM of US$71 billion, a US$14 billion development workbook, said to be the largest in the region, growing data centre and infrastructure platforms, and market-leading positions in all major APAC markets, including Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and India, according to ESR.
“As a united company, we will unleash the full potential of our combined fund management and development platform spanning various sectors and geographies,” ESR co-founders and co-chief executive officers Stuart Gibson and Jeffrey Shen say in the statement.
“Coupled with our growth engines in logistics, data centres, infrastructure and life sciences, our integrated platform further enables us to deliver exciting opportunities for our people, partners, investors, customers, and the communities where we operate.”
As part of the full integration, LOGOS co-founder and co-CEO John Marsh will assume leadership roles as chair of the combined infrastructure business, as well as chair of the combined ANZ platform. He will also become a member of the group’s investment committee.
Trent Iliffe, co-founder and co-CEO of LOGOS, will remain with the group on a consulting basis for six months following the completion of the acquisition to oversee a smooth transition process, and will thereafter pursue new endeavours outside of the group.
In October 2021, ESR announced the acquisition of ARA Asset Management Holdings. As part of the transaction, the group indirectly acquired an 86.4% stake in LOGOS. The remaining 13.6% was held by the three LOGOS founders, Marsh, Iliffe, and Stephen Hawkins. Hawkins sold his stake in June 2024.
