First Aid no longer needed for First REIT

Victor Tan, CEO of First REIT, is a much happier man now. When I last met him three years back, his company was struggling and there were rumours that its sponsor Lippo Karawaci was going to sell its stake to raise cash. Fortunes have turned, with much of the overhang gone.

In the past, practically all of First REIT’s AUM was deployed in Indonesia. It is now gunning for developed markets to make up over 50% of its portfolio, starting with Japan. In fact, it just acquired two Japanese nursing homes yesterday to add on to the 12 purchased earlier this year.