ESR Reveals New Team After Hong Kong Delisting

Asia-Pacific real estate giant ESR has completed its privatisation and delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as a new consortium of global investors takes control of the company.

The deal brings together Starwood Capital Group, SSW Partners, Sixth Street, Warburg Pincus, and Qatar Investment Authority as the new owners alongside ESR’s founders.

The privatisation enables ESR to accelerate its plan to focus on logistics and data centres across the Asia-Pacific region.

The new ownership structure includes existing shareholders OMERS and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, who elected to roll their equity into the privatised entity.

Former global head of Macquarie Asset Management Real Estate Brett Robson has been appointed independent board chair, while Phil Pearce, who joined ESR in 2017, has been promoted to president while continuing his role as the chief executive of ESR Australia & New Zealand.

The company has also appointed Matthew Lawson as chief financial officer. Lawson previously served as group chief operating officer.

Josh Daitch is now in the role of chief investment officer for investor solutions and investments, focusing on client engagement and capital-raising activities, while David Matheson, former co-head of Europe at Starwood Capital Group, will join ESR as chief investment officer for group strategy and investments.

ESR co-founders Stuart Gibson and Jeffrey Shen said the “appointments underscore our unwavering commitment to building a best-in-class platform to serve our stakeholders”.

The new ownership consortium brings substantial financial backing to ESR’s expansion plans.

Starwood Capital Group manages about $175 billion in assets, while Sixth Street oversees more than $122 billion in assets.

Warburg Pincus has $133 billion in assets under management across its private equity, real estate and capital solutions strategies.

▲ Phil Pearce brings more than 25 years of Asia-Pacific experience from roles at Goodman Group and AMP Capital.

The privatisation positions ESR to pursue long-term value creation in its core businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and India, according to the company.

ESR has operations in logistics real estate, data centres and energy infrastructure that supports the digital economy and supply chain networks.

Robson said the leadership changes were an important milestone for ESR, with the “collective ambition to deliver excellence across all aspects of the business”.

The successful privatisation removes ESR from public market pressures, according to a company statement.

ESR has maintained an active development pipeline across Australia while navigating the ownership transition.

The company recently secured approval for a $268-million warehouse and distribution centre at Milperra, one of Sydney’s largest industrial projects.

ESR has also committed to completing Amazon’s stalled robotic fulfilment centre at Craigieburn after builder Roberts and Co collapsed.

The developer continues to expand its footprint with a $170-million warehouse estate planned for Sydney’s Aerotropolis as it positions itself to capitalise on Western Sydney International Airport’s opening next year.