Asia-Pacific’s largest real asset manager ESR has acquired a stake in BW Industrial Development by taking part in BW’s $450m (€418m) fundraising.
ESR said it led the funding round to take a strategic equity stake as a part of BW’s larger primary capital raise that was backed by other strategic and financial investors in Asia.
ESR said it is appointing a representative to the board of BW as part of the deal. ESR has also seconded Fion Ng, ESR’s head of investment and development for Southeast Asia, to take on the role of COO and head of North at BW.
BW is Vietnam’s largest and fastest-growing pure-play logistics and industrial developer with $2bn of gross assets under management. The company’s current portfolio comprises the country’s largest land bank of more than 8m sqm and more than 2m sqm of gross floor area in operation and under development.
The latest partnership extends ESR and BW’s relationship which started in 2021 as a development joint venture created to develop and own the 40,000sqm My Phuoc 4 Industrial Park in Binh Duong market, in Southern Vietnam.
The partnership marked ESR’s entry into the Vietnamese market, expanding the group’s APAC footprint in the high-growth Southeast Asia region.
Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson, ESR co-founders and co-CEOs, said: “ESR’s strategic investment in BW marks a significant milestone for our business in Southeast Asia. Underpinned by strong growth fundamentals including rapid urbanisation, a fast-rising consumer class and the exponential growth of e-commerce, Vietnam is witnessing robust demand for logistics and industrial space with limited available modern space.
“As we continue to extend ESR’s leading New Economy footprint in APAC, Vietnam will be an important and valuable market as it offers a fast and dynamic growing economy, scale, velocity of development and strong institutional investor interest.”
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