by S BIRRUNTHA / pic by TMR FILE

SIME Darby Property Bhd and Asia Pacific (APAC) logistics specialist LOGOS SE Asia Pte Ltd (LOGOS Property) will form a joint venture (JV) company to establish a fund management platform for the logistics sector, as well as to provide development services.

The JV will be known as Industrial Joint Venture (Holdings) Pte Ltd (JV Co) with Sime Darby Property holding 51% equity while the remaining 49% will be held by LOGOS Property.

Sime Darby Property’s involvement in the JV makes the property developer the first public listed company in Malaysia to venture into the creation of development funds within the industrial and logistics sector.

Sime Darby Property group MD Datuk Azmir Merican said the JV would focus on ‘build-to-suit to lease or sell’ assets, primarily for clients in the logistics sector.

According to him, the first seed fund of Industrial JV Co is intended to be structured as a Singapore limited partnership targeting a total capital commitment of about RM850 million from accredited and institutional investors.

He noted that Sime Darby Property has allocated a 177-acre (71.63ha) site within its Bandar Bukit Raja township in Klang, Selangor, to spearhead this initiative.

“This strategic partnership is a significant step forward in the company’s evolution into a real estate development company with a wider recurring income base by 2025.

“The setting-up of fund management platforms is part of the value creation strategies we are introducing to broaden Sime Darby Property’s income streams in today’s challenging market,” Azmir said in a virtual media briefing announcing the partnership yesterday.

He said Bandar Bukit Raja was selected to leverage its strength as an established industrial township given its strategic connectivity to all the essential infrastructure in the Klang Valley such as major expressways, ports and airports.

“LOGOS Property’s experience in providing sustainable, integrated logistics solutions with green building certification will be replicated at these facilities, with the implementation of the latest in warehouse or logistics automation and construction technology,” he added.

Meanwhile, LOGOS Property head of Malaysia David Aboud said the APAC logistics sector has been undergoing major growth over the past number of years underpinned by an increase in e-commerce, manufacturing and the diversification to decentralised supply chains.

He added that in Malaysia, this had resulted in a significant increase in demand from multinational and domestic customers for high-quality logistics space, which is currently not being well serviced by the majority of available stock in the market.

Additionally, he said the modern logistics sector is experiencing increasing sophistication in the build specifications demanded by users including automation and this is also a feature in the Malaysian market.

LOGOS Property manages all aspects of logistics real estate, including investment management, sourcing land or facilities and undertaking development and asset management, on behalf of some of the world’s leading global real estate investors.

The logistics specialist is present in 10 countries across the APAC region and has a portfolio comprising over 8.9 million sq m of property owned and under development across 26 ventures.