ESR has secured investment from the CITIC Securities One-Belt-One-Road (CSOBOR) Fund ahead of its initial public offering.

The US$12bn (€10.3bn) manager backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, said CSOBOR’s investment will be used to fuel its rapid platform expansion in China and across the Asia-Pacific region.

No financial details were disclosed.

CSOBOR is a private equity investment fund of CLSA, Asia’s capital markets and investment group and a subsidiary of Chinese investment bank CITIC Securities.

Rui Zhao, a managing director at CSOBOR Fund, said: “CLSA investment and resources will assist the company to expand its business into Southeast Asia and identify fund-level investors in China.”

CSOBOR’s investment comes after ESR secured pre-IPO investment of US$306m from a subsidiary of the leading Chinese e-commerce player, JD.com, last month.

Also, early last year, a group of Chinese investors made up of GF Investments, Huarong International, Huarong Rongde, SPDB International, China Everbright, Everbright Securities and CMBC International backed ESR with U$300m ahead of the listing.

The timeline of the initial public offering is currently unknown.

Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson, Co-CEOs of ESR, said: “The investment from CLSA’s CSOBOR Fund into ESR is a tremendous endorsement of our capabilities and success.

“The funding will help ESR strengthen its market-leading position and accelerate the growth of its pan-Asia platform, creating greater, sustained value for both our investors and customers.”

ESR was formed in 2016 as a result of a merger between e-Shang and Redwood in January last year.