CapitaLand Investment Buying Australian Private Credit Manager Wingate for $127M

CapitaLand Investment chief financial officer Paul Tham

Singapore’s CapitaLand Investment is acquiring Melbourne-based fund manager Wingate Group for A$200 million ($127.4 million), in a move set to extend the Temasek-backed giant’s private credit business into Australia.

In buying the 20-year-old firm led by founder and CEO Farrel Meltzer, CapitaLand Investment builds on the September closing of its Australia Credit Program, a A$265 million credit fund conceived and originated in partnership with Wingate, the SGX-listed company said Monday in a release. CapitaLand Investment first seeded the fund, it said, then attracted Asian investors while working with Wingate to originate and underwrite the deals.

Wingate’s A$2.5 billion in funds under management is expected to boost CapitaLand Investment’s FUM to S$115 billion ($85.3 million) and increase FUM in Australia by more than 30 percent to S$8.3 billion, contributing 7 percent of total FUM.

“Wingate’s private credit capabilities complement CLI’s own private funds platform, and will enable us to collaborate to create greater value for our capital partners in Australia and beyond,” said CapitaLand Investment chief financial officer Paul Tham. “We see scalable private credit opportunities in other Asia Pacific markets, most notably in South Korea, India and Japan.”

Earn-Out Potential
The A$200 million compensation is in addition to an earn-out based on certain performance hurdles over a three-year period after completion of the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the coming months.

Wingate Group founder, chairman and CEO Farrel Meltzer

Meltzer will transition the executive leadership of Wingate’s property and corporate credit business to Nick Jacobson, currently managing director of Wingate Property, the firm said in a separate announcement. Jacobson will assume the title of Wingate’s managing director, while Meltzer will continue to serve as a non-executive director of Wingate and senior advisor to CapitaLand Investment in Australia and to the private credit business globally.

Wingate’s principal investment and related strategies, including portfolio companies, will be excluded from the transaction and spun out into Fancourt Capital, a new investment firm to be owned by the current Wingate shareholder group. Wingate will remain Australia-domiciled.

“Wingate employees, co-investors and clients will benefit greatly from the partnership with CLI, including access to a range of global best-in-class investment opportunities,” Meltzer said. “This partnership will bring fresh international perspectives, create seamless cultural and operational synergy, and further elevate the platform’s already high standards of co-investor management.”

The Australian private capital market recorded 33 percent growth in the 18 months to April as assets under management reached A$139 billion, CapitaLand Investment said, citing research by Prequin and the Australian Investment Council. Wingate itself has executed more than 350 transactions with over A$20 billion in real estate value.

Stepped-Up Presence
CapitaLand Investment manages 34 logistics properties and business parks and four Grade A office buildings in Australia, where it also has more than 13,500 lodging units across about 150 properties under wholly owned lodging unit The Ascott Ltd.

The Singaporean giant last month named Angelo Scasserra as CEO of the Australia business and Rahul Bharara as chief investment officer, with the pair set to join from Sydney-based banking startup Barrenjoey in the first half of 2025. The Credit Suisse alums will oversee CapitaLand Investment’s more than A$9 billion in assets under management in Australia.

Tham said Australia would play a greater role in contributing to funds under management as the company shoots for S$200 billion in FUM by 2028.

“CLI has committed to invest up to A$1 billion to grow our FUM in the country,” the CFO said. “As we strengthen our position as a leading global real asset manager, we will continue to seek opportunities to scale our Australian presence through our listed funds, private funds as well as our commercial and lodging management businesses to drive fee income growth for CLI.”