A joint venture supported by Warburg Pincus LLC and Lendlease Corp. has completed the largest commercial real estate transaction in Singapore this year, purchasing approximately S$1.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) worth of assets. The newly established platform, which has yet to be named, will acquire a portfolio that includes business parks and specialized facilities for life sciences and research and development (R&D) companies, covering a total gross floor area of 4.5 million square feet across Singapore.
The assets, sourced from entities linked to Blackstone Inc. and Lim Chap Huat, executive chairman of Soilbuild Group Holdings Ltd., represent a significant addition to the venture’s holdings. The joint venture, formed at the end of last month, marks Warburg Pincus’s and Lendlease’s substantial foray into the life sciences and R&D real estate sector in Asia. Lendlease has previously announced that it is divesting its life sciences assets in Asia to this 50:50 venture for S$129 million.
This transaction is notable within Singapore’s tightly regulated and less active industrial real estate market. Despite ongoing interest from investors, large-scale property deals in Singapore are infrequent. The recent acquisition boosts Warburg’s Singapore-based platform to over S$2 billion in assets under management.
The commercial real estate market in Singapore has experienced a slowdown, largely due to elevated interest rates and a pronounced pricing disparity between buyers and sellers. According to MSCI Inc., commercial property transactions in the first half of the year declined by 49% year-on-year to US$2.9 billion.
