Warburg Pincus, Blackstone in bidders’ short-list for Singapore’s GLP: Reuters

(Reuters) — Private equity firms Warburg Pincus [WP.UL], Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) and Hopu Investment were among the bidders short-listed to present a potential offer for Singapore-listed Global Logistic Properties (GLPL.SI), people familiar with the process said on Tuesday.

GLP, as the company backed by sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd [GIC.UL] is called, has picked at least three groups to move to a second phase of the process and examine the company’s financials, added the sources, who declined to be named because the information is not public. The company has a market value of $9.2 billion.

GLP said in a securities filing on Monday it has evaluated various non-binding proposals and a special committee running a strategic review of its business short-listed “several parties” to conduct due diligence of the company, though it didn’t disclose any names of the potential bidders.

Warburg Pincus joined with e-Shang Redwood (ESR) to lead a consortium of Chinese and international investors bidding for GLP, one of the people said. Blackstone led another group, with a third consortium joining Beijing-based Hopu with Chinese investment firm Hillhouse Capital and some of GLP’s senior executives.

Reuters had previously reported on the interest from Hopu, Hillhouse, Blackstone and some GLP managers to bid for the company, with JPMorgan advising GLP’s special committee on the proposals.

Other bidders may also be in the race, two of the sources said.

Blackstone, GLP, Hillhouse Capital, JPMorgan, Warburg Pincus and Hopu declined to comment.

Private equity firms and institutional investors including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have poured billions of dollars into warehousing and logistics investments in Asia in recent years betting on a continued boom in demand from e-commerce in the region.

China alone has seen nearly $12 billion in investments in the sector since 2013, according to real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle estimates. Despite a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy in the past few years, online shopping in China has soared as more consumers opt for the convenience of shopping on their mobile phones and getting products delivered to their homes.