At a press conference in Singapore, CapitaLand President Lim Ming Yan said that “The market has changed.” According to Bloomberg News, the president of CapitaLand Group reported,”Earlier companies were pure play residential; now companies are emerging that are doing mixed developments, which include homes, offices and malls. This move will help us compete better.”
CapitaMalls Asia Limited is one of the largest listed shopping mall developers, owners and managers in Asia by total property value of assets and geographic reach. It has interests in and manages a pan-Asian portfolio of 105 shopping malls across 53 cities in the five countries of Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India, with a total property value of approximately $34.3 billion. CapitaMalls Asia is Singapore’s largest mall operator and had the biggest reported gain since going public in 2009, according to Bloomberg, after CapitaLand Ltd. offered to buy the rest of its mall unit.
CapitaLand reportedly owns 65.3 percent of CapitaMalls Asia. According to Samsung Asset Management Co., Singapore and China are starting to show some weakening in property markets. A Singapore-based analyst at Barclays Plc., Tricia Song reported that, “CapitaLand’s offer to take CapitaMalls private is a win-win for both CMA and CapitaLand,” according to Bloomberg News Song said that, Regaining full control of CapitaMalls should allow CapitaLand more flexibility, including the ability to streamline its organizational structure.” The mall owner reported a 17 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit to $216.4 million from a year earlier.
In 2013, CapitaMalls Asia committed a total investment of more than $2.2 billion (HK$13.4 billion) in acquisitions of stakes in four shopping malls in Singapore and China, according to their website.
According to a Bloomberg News survey, Chinese developers will probably face many more challenges this year because of an oversupply of housing in the smaller cities.
According to brokerage UOB Kay Hian Pte, CapitaLand’s offer works out to be about 1.2 times CapitaMalls Asia’s book value.
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