SINGAPORE / SHANGHAI, CHINA – 14 May 2018 – GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, will be partnering with NOVA, a fully-integrated operator and investment manager headquartered in Shanghai and co-founded by Warburg Pincus, to establish a RMB4.3B (US$675M ) rental apartment platform in China. The platform will seek to invest in quality rental apartment projects in core locations across Tier 1 cities. GIC will also be acquiring a minority stake in NOVA.

Wang Qian, NOVA’s Co-Founder, Chairman and Co-CEO, said, “Our vision is to become a leading investment and asset management platform in the urban renewal and rental apartment sector, to deliver the best-in-class investment, renovation and operation services. GIC’s strategic partnership with NOVA is testament to our team’s vision and exceptional execution capabilities in building up NOVA’s leadership position in just three years, and an exciting milestone in our growth and expansion strategy. We look forward to leveraging our partnership with GIC and continued support from Warburg Pincus to accelerate our development and expansion in China’s urban renewal and institutional apartment sector.”

Lee Kok Sun, Chief Investment Officer of GIC Real Estate, said, “As a long-term value investor, we are attracted by the promising outlook of China’s fast-growing rental apartment sector, with demand driven by changing demographic trends and cultural shifts towards city-living. There is a large and growing population of renters within our target income group, with a limited supply of quality institutionally-owned and professionally-managed projects. We look forward to partnering with NOVA, given its solid track record in this sector, to establish and grow the platform in key Chinese cities. Our partnership with NOVA is an important component of our broader strategy to invest in this emerging sector in China.”

Joseph Gagnon, Managing Director and head of Asia Real Estate of Warburg Pincus, commented, “As one of the most active and experienced private equity investor in China’s real estate sector, we are a firm believer in the long-term apartment rental industry driven by continued urbanization and demand for high-quality rental properties in China. Since co-founding NOVA in 2015, we have been deeply impressed and pleased with NOVA’s growth under the leadership of Qian Wang and Jerry Shen. The partnership with GIC will take NOVA into a new stage of growth to further solidify its leadership position.”

The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals by the relevant authorities.