CPPIB, Longfor set up JV to invest in Suzhou commercial property

The JV was formed last month with CPPIB putting in RMB1.25 billion ($201 million) to develop the so-called Times Paradise Walk project located in Suzhou. The city - which is said to be China's fifth most affluent - has a population of around 10 million.

According to a statement, the development is located in the Suzhou's central business district and will also have connections to the subway network. It will include residential, office, retail and hotel space with total gross floor area of 735,000 square meters

Construction began in 2013 with two separate residential launches held last year attracting contract sales of RMB1.9 billion. The project is expected to be completed over multiple phases between and 2016 and 2019.

"We believe partnering with organizations like CPPIB in these types of joint ventures will provide significant advantages in that it allows us to be more flexible in our resource allocation, improve capital efficiency and strengthen financial stability," said Zhao Yi, Finance General Manager, Longfor. 

As of September last year CPPIB's CPP Fund totalled C$234.4 billion ($198 billion). Around C$25.4 billion of this consists of real estate investments.

Hong Kong-listed Longfor reported revenue of RMB15.9 billion for the first half of 2014, up from RMB15.2 billion in the same period of the previous year. Net profit rose from RMB4.12 billion to RMB4.35 billion. For 2013 as a whole, revenue came to RMB41.5 billion, up from RMB27.9 billion, while profit grew from RMB6.86 billion to RMB8.63 billion.

Over the course of 2014, the company increased contracted sales 65% year-on-year to RMB5.48 billion and by 92% in terms of gross floor area to 510,000 square meters.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Real estate
• CPPIB
• Canada
• China
• Real estate
• Joint Venture