CITIC Capital and SCPG Raised RMB 2.625 Billion to Capture Commercial Real Estate Investment Opportunities in China's first- and second-tier Cities

On September 15, the Real Estate Department of CITIC Capital announced that it had raided RMB 2.625 billion for the first phase of SCPG- CITIC Capital China Retail Upgrade M&A Fund (hereinafter referred to as the “Fund”) in collaboration with SCPG on June 30, 2021. Centering on the theme - "value-added income from China's consumption upgrade," the Fund seeks to invest in the transformation or improvement of commercial ecological platforms in China's first- and second-tier cities.

According to data from JLL, consumption has been growing in China's core first- and second-tier cities in recent years. However, China's per capita retail space and shopping mall are still lagging behind those of developed countries. While traditional department stores are on the decline, new shopping malls with precise positioning and experiential consumption are growing fast and notably expanding from first-tier cities to second-tier cities.

The Fund aims to capture commercial real estate investment opportunities under this trend. In the Co-GP structure, CITIC Capital acts as fund manager and leverages its expertise in capital markets operations to provide comprehensive investment and management while SCPG serves as asset manager and takes charge of the whole process of project transformation, asset enhancement and project management and operations. CITIC Capital and SCPG are both limited partners of the Fund.

Now the Fund has completed investment in three reserve projects: Beijing Vanke Peninsula Plaza, Jinan INCITY and Chengdu INCITY. With a total construction area of about 410,000 square meters and convenient location, these malls have maintained a high occupancy rate and have great potential for added value.

About CITIC Capital

Founded in 2002, CITIC Capital is an investment management and consulting company specializing in alternative investments. Its core businesses include private equity investment, real estate investment, structured financing and asset management. The company manages assets that total more than USD 32 billion for diversified international institutional investors.

About SCPG

Founded in 2003, SCPG specializes in shopping mall investment, development and operating management from an international perspective. Its businesses cover the entire commercial real estate value chain. In 2016, SCPG became a member company of the Vanke Group. As of today, SCPG has operated and managed more than 100 projects in more than 50 cities across China. The assets it manages approach RMB 90 billion and the space it manages reached about 10 million square meters.

丨Source of Information: Official Press Releases