Cushman & Wakefield expands into Malaysia

Cushman & Wakefield said on Tuesday that it is opening an office in Malaysia as it follows its global clients into the market and seeks to tap local capital sources for investment abroad.

The new office in Kuala Lumpur is C&W’s 35th office in Asia Pacific.

Sanjay Verma, CEO for Asia Pacific, said the move was in line with C&W’s five-year strategic plan, which contains an ‘aggressive expansion plan’ for the firm’s business in Asia Pacific. ‘This new office in Kuala Lumpur will help us further increase the depth and breadth of our service offerings to our global clients,’ he said.

Arsh Chaudhry, executive managing director for Cushman & Wakefield in South East Asia, added: 'Malaysia is a key market for both our investor and occupier clients. It’s the third largest economy in South East Asia, and going forward it is going to play a key role in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Malaysian capital sources have been active investors in real estate assets across the world and on the back of strong domestic demand, many of our global clients are expanding across Malaysia. Our new Malaysia office is a wholly owned Cushman & Wakefield entity, illustrating our commitment to this exciting market.’

Malaysian pension fund KWAP is already an active investor across Europe. In early June it acquired a majority interest in the Intu Uxbridge shopping centre in London for £175 mln (€216 mln).

And in February, Malaysian SWF Lembaga Tabung Haji partnered with Shariah-compliant investment bank Gatehouse Bank to acquire Unilever’s UK and Ireland headquarters office in the UK for £76 mln (€92 mln), in a deal reflecting a net initial yield of 6.18%.

The Malaysian economy grew by 5.1% in the final quarter of 2013 and by 6.2% in Q1 2014. This momentum is expected to continue into 2014, supported by resilient demand from the domestic market and firm export figures.