A consortium led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street and SSW Partners has made a HK$55 .2bn (€6.7bn) take-private offer for APAC real assets manager ESR.
The consortium, which also includes Qatar Investment Authority, Warburg Pincus, and ESR founders, said it has also received co-investment equity commitments from “highly reputable” institutional investors who will be investing through both Starwood Capital and Warburg Pincus-managed vehicles, including Alpha Wave Ventures and a leading Asia public pension investor.
Collectively, the consortium holds 39.9% of the total issued shares of ESR. It has received irrevocable undertakings in support from “disinterested” shareholders including Canadian pension fund OMERS and Dutch pensions manager APG, which own about 51.2% of the shares.
Listed in 2019, ESR manages US$154bn (€146.2bn) in assets and is traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The consortium has offered shareholders a choice of HK$13 per share in cash, to roll over their stake into the new private company, or a mix of cash and shares in a proportion of their choosing, according to ESR.
The consortium noted that its cash offer had been increased twice since the initial approach to ESR in May 2024. “It is now final and will not be increased further.”
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