Temasek’s Mapletree Investments eyes expansion in data centres, logistics and student housing

[SINGAPORE] Temasek’s Mapletree Investments said it will look at opportunities to expand and diversify its footprint in data centres, logistics and student housing, three of its four core sectors.

For data centres, it sees a surge in demand powering continued expansion in the sector. In particular, it will seek such opportunities in Europe, where a record amount of data centre capacity of 937 megawatts (MW) is expected to be added this year. That’s up 43 per cent from 2024, the property giant said in its annual report for the financial year ended Mar 31.

“Investor appetite in this asset class will remain strong, driven by significant demand for computing power and data storage, lack of supply, desirable financial returns and growing interest around artificial intelligence (AI),” said group chief executive Hiew Yoon Khong.

The company’s focus in Europe is on established core markets as well as rapidly emerging markets such as Milan and Madrid which present strong potential for returns, he added.

Within Asia-Pacific, Mapletree will focus on mature and high-potential emerging markets such as Japan and Korea.

Most of Mapletree’s data centre assets are held by Singapore-listed real estate investment trust (Reit), Mapletree Industrial Trust.

Mapletree also manages two Singapore-listed Reits and nine private equity real estate funds.

Logistics and accommodation

The property giant is “generally positive” on the outlook of the logistics sector as well, “with continued growth in demand for warehousing space expected in most markets”, said Hiew.

The sector is Mapletree’s largest asset class, accounting for 42 per cent, or around S$33.7 billion of the group’s total assets under management (AUM) of S$80.3 billion as at Mar 31.

In the US, Mapletree expects groundbreaking for its logistics development on a 91,135 square metre site in New Jersey in the second half of this year. It will keep buying more land parcels to develop.

Turning to student housing, another of Mapletree’s core sectors, the company said it is looking to expand its footprint in new markets such as Spain. It has also recently started looking at opportunities in Australia, where it said there is growing demand and structural undersupply in the asset.

Mapletree is in the process of preparing for the launch of a student-housing-focused fund in the current financial year ending on Mar 31, 2026. This will comprise its UK student housing assets with a total AUM of at least £500 million (S$865 million).

As for office, also a core sector for Mapletree, Hiew said the company is “cautious” in the short to medium term, given that certain markets are still impacted by the practice of remote work.

Even so, Mapletree has continued to invest in the office markets in India and Vietnam.