ESR

ESR Group Limited is a real asset manager and owner focused on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, specializing in logistics real estate, data centers, and energy infrastructure. The company's genesis was the January 2016 merger of e-Shang and the Redwood Group, creating what was then known as e-Shang Redwood (ESR). e-Shang, a Shanghai-based logistics platform, was co-founded in 2011 by Jeffrey Shen Jinchu and Sun Dongping, in partnership with private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The Redwood Group was a Singapore-based logistics platform founded in 2006 by Stuart Gibson and Charles de Portes, both former employees of Prologis. This strategic merger created one of the largest logistics real estate platforms in Asia.

The founders brought extensive experience in real estate to the merged entity. Jeffrey Shen has over 23 years of experience in China's industrial real estate sector, including a senior role at Prologis China. Stuart Gibson has over 27 years of real estate development and investment experience in Asia, with a significant portion in Japan's industrial sector, also with Prologis. Charles de Portes has over 26 years of real estate investment experience, including time at Goldman Sachs and Prologis in Europe and Asia. Following the merger, Shen and Gibson became co-CEOs of ESR Group.

ESR operates through three primary business segments: Fund Management, Investment, and New Economy Development. The Fund Management arm manages a diverse portfolio of funds and investment vehicles, including publicly listed REITs and private funds, generating recurring fees. The Investment division includes co-investments in its own funds and direct investments in properties and other real estate vehicles. The Development segment provides a full suite of services from land acquisition and design to construction and leasing of modern logistics facilities and data centers. ESR serves a client base that includes e-commerce giants, third-party logistics (3PL) providers, retailers, manufacturers, and cold-chain logistics providers.

Significant milestones have marked ESR's growth. In November 2019, the company held its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising approximately US$1.6 billion. A transformative event occurred in January 2022 with the US$5.2 billion acquisition of ARA Asset Management, which included its subsidiary LOGOS. This acquisition made ESR the largest real asset manager in APAC and the third-largest listed real estate investment manager globally. More recently, in mid-2025, ESR was taken private by a consortium of investors including Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street Partners, and Warburg Pincus, leading to its delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Keywords: logistics real estate, real asset management, Asia-Pacific logistics, data centers, fund management, industrial property, supply chain infrastructure, e-commerce facilities, real estate investment, warehouse development, New Economy real estate, private real estate funds, REITs, property investment, logistics solutions, investment management, asset management, real estate development, APAC infrastructure, sustainable real estate, capital recycling, institutional investors