Hong Kong, 11^th October, 2021 – BPEA Real Estate today announced the closing of a capital raising for its Chinese logistics platform, Forest Logistics (“Forest” or the “Company”), bringing the total equity commitment to more than $1.2 billion.

Forest is a modern logistics property development and operating platform with projects located at key logistics gateway cities across China. BPEA Real Estate established the Company in 2018 alongside two industrial veterans, Hank Hsu and Addy Chen.

The investment by BPEA allows the Forest team to capitalize on the favorable long-term demand for logistics, driven by the shift towards online consumption and a chronic undersupply of modern facilities in China. Forest Logistics will use the funds to scale the Company and construct a network of more than 30 modern logistics properties across China. All the sites are being built to best-in-class international specifications, including environmental features and allowances for technological infrastructure that caters to the future needs of tenants.

Charles Lam, Managing Director at BPEA Real Estate, commented: “We formed Forest Logistics to create a leader in the industry and drive the multi-decade transformation of China’s modern logistics space. While the recent developments in China may slow some sectors, we believe the drivers behind the long-term opportunity for logistics are uncorrelated to these short-term events and see further potential to invest in China’s long-term growth.”

Forest Logistics has already acquired 12 sites representing approximately 1 million sq. m of GLA. Several of these sites are fully operational, including a prime location at Beijing airport used as a logistics hub for the 2022 Beijing Olympics that was recently certified LEED Gold.

Alex Tse, Managing Director at BPEA Real Estate, added: “China is the biggest Asian logistics market, and we have found excellent partners in Hank, Addy, and the entire Forest Logistics team. With our private equity background and experience scaling companies in China, we will continue to support the Forest Logistics team in growing the Company into one of China’s largest domestic logistics developers.”

Mark Fogle, Head of BPEA Real Estate said: “We see many of the same attributes that initially attracted us to China across other Asian countries, especially the lack of modern stock and huge demand from e-commerce. We hope to establish more logistics platforms in the coming years across Asia by leveraging our regional platform. We also believe that China will continue to be an attractive place to invest across a range of different sectors and are actively seeking assets or companies with similar long-term growth prospects.”

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