The funding round for Warren was led by Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC. Over the years, GIC has also invested in Nubank, Sankhya, VR Benefícios and Hotmart. Other investors such as Ribbit, Kaszek and Quartz also participated in the funding round.

Established in 2017, Warren is a brokerage and asset manager that charges clients a flat fee. The startup plans to double its assets under management to this year. Reportedly, Warren will also use the funds to add more talents to its team.

With regard to the fresh funding round for Warren, Lauren Morton, a partner at QED Investors told the media, “Before Warren, Brazilians had to choose between either earning very low interest on savings accounts or paying very high commission fees to brokers who are incentivised to sell them products they don’t need.

“Warren changes everything by redefining how Brazilians build their equity. Their team combines vast industry experience with an unwavering passion for the mission of democratizing investing in Brazil. This approach has had excellent results and Warren is now the country’s largest independent broker.”

Earlier this year, another Brazil-based fintech startup Cora secured around $26.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley VC firm Ribbit Capital, it was reported. Kaszek Ventures, QED Investors and Greenoaks Capital also participated in the funding round. Cora, which is headquartered in Sao Paolo, is a technology-enabled lender to small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

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The project spreads over 38 acre and will serve as the hub for light manufacturing and logistics operations. The logistics park will be ESR’s second development in Chakan. The company said in a statement that of the 38 acres, 26 acres are already leased and will be delivered by May 2021.

In this regard, Abhijit Malkani and Jai Mirpuri, country heads of ESR India, told the media, “Chakan has been a significant location for our expansion in India due to its established industrial ecosystem and increasing demand driven by national and global companies for Grade A spaces in this region.”

In December, it was reported that Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC and Hong Kong-based logistics developer ESR Cayman have announced a $750 million joint venture (JV) to develop and acquire industrial and logistics assets in India. Both parties announced that they have entered into an 80:20 strategic partnership.

The joint venture formed by GIC and ESR Cayman will focus on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across India. To begin with, the JV will invest in a 2.2 million sq ft build-to-core asset, located around Mumbai.

Kishore Gotety, co-head (Asia ex-China) of real estate at GIC told the media, “Continued ecommerce growth in India over the long term, reinforced by rising internet penetration, is expected to drive strong demand for industrial and logistics assets.”

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The new joint venture formed by GIC and ESR Cayman will focus on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across India. To begin with, the JV will invest in a 2.2 million sq ft build-to-core asset, located around Mumbai.

Kishore Gotety, co-head (Asia ex-China) of real estate at GIC told the media, “Continued ecommerce growth in India over the long term, reinforced by rising internet penetration, is expected to drive strong demand for industrial and logistics assets. This is further supported by the emphasis on infrastructure development, changing supply chains, and low vacancy levels. This JV is well-positioned to benefit from these tailwinds, bring institutional-grade assets into this market, and generate resilient returns.”

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, formally known as GIC, is also expanding its reach in the European logistics and warehousing space through another joint venture. The joint venture is an establishment between GIC and logistics investment manager Melcombe Partners. GIC plans to acquire and develop last-mile distribution centres and urban logistics assets on the continent.  It is reported that the financial terms of the venture have not been disclosed. In recent years, GIC has been actively participating in acquisitions of global logistics assets.

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It is reported that the financial terms of the venture have not been disclosed. The joint venture is an establishment between GIC and logistics investment manager Melcombe Partners. In recent years, GIC has been actively participating in acquisitions of global logistics assets. 

Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer for real estate at GIC, told the media, “The urban logistics sub-market will benefit from positive fundamentals, reinforced by increasing occupier demand due to accelerating ecommerce adoption and changing supply chain management strategies. We believe the venture’s focused strategy, with the management of a skilled partner such as Melcombe, will generate resilient returns in the long run. We look forward to expanding our partnerships and exploring further opportunities in this attractive sector.”

By definition, last-mile distribution services point to the last portion of work during delivery from logistics hub to the final destination. Recently, BNP Paribas in its report stated that Europe’s logistics and industrial sector has a ‘bright spot’  despite the protracted coronavirus pandemic. 

That said, GIC has added  33 German retail logistics assets to its European warehouse platform P3 Logistic Parks.

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According to the deal, the KKR-led consortium, which also includes GIC- a sovereign wealth fund from Singapore, will subscribe to $100 million worth of 41, 366, 178 new common shares in the MPIC’s hospital business. The number of shares is equivalent to 6.25 percent of the company.

MPIC currently has an 85.6 percent stake in the business while GIC owns the rest. MPIC will use the funds from the stake sale to invest in new hospitals and healthcare businesses and also support its existing hospitals.

Besides buying a stake in the MPIC’s hospital business, the KKR-led consortium will also invest $583.7 million for convertible bonds issued by MPIC. This will give KKR the right to swap these bonds for 239,932,962 common shares in Metro Pacific Hospitals in the next 10 years or in the event of an IPO. According to reports, the funds from the bond issuance will be used by MPIC to reduce its debt.

Augusto P. Palisoc Jr., President, and CEO of Metro Pacific Hospitals told the media, “We welcome KKR as a new shareholder. Its cash infusion into Metro Pacific Hospitals will enable us to further grow our network, on our way to our new target of 5,000 beds and 30 hospitals before 2030. We also look forward to accessing KKR’s various healthcare companies in its global portfolio, to bring over new technologies and processes to improve healthcare services in Philippines.”

MPIC recently announced that it has decided to postpone its plan to list Metro Pacific Hospital on the stock exchange.

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Lendlease International Towers Sydney Trust (LLITST) owns assets in the Barangaroo Office Precinct in the Sydney Central Business District. GIC announced that the premium office properties owned in such locations have close proximity to Darling Harbour and various amenities.

The financial terms regarding GIC’s acquisition have not yet been disclosed.

Established in 2012, Lendlease International Sydney Towers Trust is valued at A$4.3 billion or$ 2.9 billion. The transaction between Lendlease and GIC is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.

Lee Kok Sun, chief investment officer at GIC Real Estate said, “These high-quality assets, situated in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, are expected to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in the long run.”

Mr Lee added that GIC is looking for long term investments and will therefore continue to invest in assets that will add value to the firm’s global portfolio.

Australia’s Lendlease reportedly has its eyes on the mid- September Singapore initial public offering for its upcoming global commercial real estate investment trust (Reit).

The real estate investment trust will comprise one property each in Singapore and Milan, which has a total area of 1.3 million square feet and is valued at S$ 1.4 billion. The trust further includes a shopping mall in Orchard Road.

GIC earlier announced its offloading of an undisclosed stake in Sydney Office skyscraper Chifley Tower, which is worth $1.2 billion, to Australian property group Charter Hall.

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Hansoh’s share sale will be the second-largest Hong Kong IPO so far this year. The company is selling  551 million primary shares at HK$13.06 to HK$14.26 a share. As per the term sheet, the offer has lured those nine investors to buy a total $344 million of the base based on the top-end pricing.

Of the nine investors, Singapore’ sovereign wealth fund GIC has made the biggest commitment to purchase $70 million of Hansoh’s shares. This is followed by Boyu Capital’s commitment of $60 million, according to the term sheet.

Other investors such as Ally Bridge, OrbiMed Advisors, and Prime Capital will buy $40 million shares each. That said, investors like Hillhouse, Cormorant Asset Management, Vivo Capital, and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Investment are also interested in the deal, Bloomberg reports.

Hansoh plans to price the offering on June 5 and the trading of its shares will begin on June 14, according to the term sheet. The joint sponsors for the IPO will be Morgan Stanley and Citigroup

Last year, Hansoh’s net profit was $274.88 million, an increase of 19 percent from the previous year. The company’s revenue is largely generated from its oncology products, the prospectus showed.

Although  Hong Kong has topped the fund raise in IPOs last year, it is still behind New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq. So far, Hong Kong IPOs have raised  $5.9 billion, compared to $16 billion on NYSE and $11 billion on the Nasdaq, the Refinitiv data shows.

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