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D Property, the investment arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.Com, is teaming up with Swiss firm Partners Group and EZA Hill Property to launch a Singapore-based real estate investment trust (REIT) valued at over $1 billion. The planned REIT will be set up in partnership with EZA Hill, which is backed by Asian investment firm Hillhouse Capital. Sources close to the matter said the REIT could list on the Singapore Exchange as early as next year.

    The move comes after JD Property and its partners acquired four logistics assets from CapitaLand Ascendas REIT for S$306 million this month. The consortium is finalizing the asset composition, which will include industrial properties in Singapore. They plan to scale up the REIT across Southeast Asia by targeting further acquisitions of industrial and logistics assets.

    The companies aim to complete the REIT's establishment by October, with its final valuation dependent on the asset mix. This latest REIT plan in Singapore follows a tentative revival in the city-state's market, which had seen a lull in new listings since 2021 due to rising interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty. The recent initial public offering of NTT DC REIT has shown renewed investor appetite amid efforts by the city-state to boost its equities market.

    JD Property and its partners are working towards establishing one of the largest new entrants in Singapore's REIT space, signaling growing confidence in the sector and underscoring the increasing role of Chinese capital in Southeast Asia.