ESR Cayman, a China-based real estate developer focused on logistics, raised $306m in funding yesterday from JD Logistics, the logistics spinoff of e-commerce firm JD.com.
ESR Cayman was formed in January 2016 through the merger of warehousing services provider E-Shang, which was founded in 2011, and logistics-based real estate investment firm Redwood Group Asia, founded in 2006.
The company owns more than 10 million square metres of logistics real estate across China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, and operates capital and fund management offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
JD Logistics’ investment will form the basis of a strategic collaboration agreement that will cover multiple areas, including property development, fund management and investments across Asia.
ESR raised $300m in January 2017 from real estate provider GF Investments and SPDB International, a subsidiary of SPDB Bank, as well as China Everbright and securities brokerage Everbright Securities, Huarong International, Huarong Rongde and CMBC International.
Conglomerate SK Holdings then paid $333m for a 10% stake in ESR in August 2017, before an unnamed client of State Street Global Advisors, the investment arm of financial services firm State Street, and various Stepstone funds provided another $140m.
JD Logistics itself raised $2.5bn from backers including internet group Tencent and insurance provider China Life in February this year.
Zhenhui Wang, chief executive of JD Logistics, said: “Investing in ESR, a leading pure-play pan-Asia logistics real estate platform and one of our major warehouse partners, presents tremendous opportunities for us.
“The investment in ESR will further strengthen our relationship to solidify and expand our logistics networks. We look forward to working closely, and together we will continue to expand the ecosystem to bring values to our customers and business partners.”