The CapitaLand group is a property company created from the merger of Pidemco Land and DBS Land. It debuted on the Stock Exchange of Singapore on 21 November 2000.[1] The group is one of the largest listed property companies in Asia, with operations extending to more than 110 cities in over 20 countries.[2] CapitaLand uses its significant real-estate asset base and market knowledge to develop fee-based products and services in Singapore and the region.[3]
Within its first five years, CapitaLand owned or managed $28 billion worth of assets worldwide, and recorded earnings of $750 million.[4] By 2010, its assets had increased to $50 billion with a cumulative profit of $7.5 billion.[5] The group's core businesses include residential, commercial, industrial property, and property-related services such as property funds and real-estate financial products.[6] Its overseas ventures are usually concentrated in selected “gateway” cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Sydney and Tokyo.[7] In 2004, 50 percent of CapitaLand’s overseas assets accounted for 68 percent of its profits, with its China operations alone contributing 24 percent.[8]
CapitaLand acquired Raffles Holdings and The Ascott Group in 2006 and 2008 respectively.[9] The Ascott Limited has become the world’s largest international serviced residence owner-operator with serviced residences in major key cities of the world. Raffles Holdings, which used to own Raffles Hotel, sold its entire hotel business to US-based private equity firm Colony Capital for $1.72 billion in 2005.[10] Another of CapitaLand’s majority-owned subsidiary is Australand Property Group, one of the largest developers in Australia. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange after discontinuing its secondary Singapore listing in 2011.[11]
CapitaLand marked an important milestone in the development of the Singapore capital market in July 2002 when it launched the CapitaMall Trust, the first listed real estate investment trust (REIT) on the Singapore Exchange.[12] This was followed by the listing of CapitaCommercial Trust REIT, Singapore’s first commercial real estate investment trust, in May 2004.[13] CapitaLand, CapitaMall Trust and shopping mall business CapitaMalls Asia, which was listed in 2009, are all component stocks in the benchmark Straits Times Index.[14]
References
1. Ong, M. A. (2005). Five (p. 16). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet for CapitaLand. Call no.: RSING 333.33095957 ONG.
2. 10 years: Building people (pp. 16–17). (2010). Singapore: CapitaLand Limited. Call no.: RSING 333.33095957 TEN.
3. CapitaLand. (2012.). Investor Information - Corporate information. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from CapitaLand website: http://investor.capitaland.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=130462&p=irol-homeprofile
4. Ong, 2005, pp. 21-23.
5. 10 years: Building People, 2010, p. 8.
6. Ong, 2005, pp. 21–39.
7. Ong, 2005, p. 42.
8. Ong, 2005, p. 41, 47.
9. Ascott acquisition completed. (2008, April 29). The Business Times, p. 10; Raffles Holdings seeks delisting. (2006, October 2). Today, p. 23; Chen, G. (2006, May 4). CapitaLand in $2.5b Bahrain waterfront deal. The Straits Times, p. 34. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
10. Ong, 2005, pp. 64, 72; Raffles Holdings seeks delisting. (2006, October 2). Today, p. 23. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; CapitaLand. (2013). Serviced Residences. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from CapitaLand website: http://www.capitaland.com/our-business/serviced-residences
11. Ong, 2005, p. 43; AustraLand exits. (2011, October 11). The Gold Coast Bulletin; Teo, E. (2011, July 12). AustraLand to delist from SGX. The Sunday Times. Retrieved from Factiva.
12. Ong, 2005, p. 82; Chan, C. P. (2002, July 27). CapitaLand makes net profit of $98m. The Straits Times, p. 11. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
13. Ong, 2005, p. 82; Loo, D. (2004, May 12). Strong debut for commercial Reit. The Straits Times, p. 19. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
14. Shareholders approve listing of CapitaMalls Asia. (2009, October 31). Today, p. 35. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; FTSE. (2012). Straits Times Index Constituents. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from FTSE website: http://www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE_ST_Index_Series/Constituents.jsp
The information in this article is valid as at 2013 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.