Keppel Capital Alternative Asset, Keppel Capital’s alternative asset subsidiary, has raised more than half of its US$500m (€425.3m) fundraising target for its Keppel Education Asset Fund.

When fully leveraged and invested, the fund is expected to have assets under management of approximately US$1.2bn. The fund plans to partner with school operators to invest in private education-related real estate in the Asia Pacific-region.

The fund’s first acquisition was a 70% stake in a premium bilingual K12 school property operated by Malvern College Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan Province and has a pipeline of future deals including properties in Australia, China, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.

Christina Tan, CEO of Keppel Capital, said: “Education assets offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns, with potential downside risks protected by established tenants and long leases.”

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