‘We don’t need to hold 100%’: CapitaLand Investment weighs partial sale of Ascott stake

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) is contemplating a partial sale of its stake in The Ascott Limited, aiming to fuel its growth. During the company's results briefing on August 13, CEO Lee Chee Koon stated that Ascott's consistent growth has caught the attention of investors and limited partners. Lee emphasized that the company is open to bringing in an investor to aid its mergers and acquisitions objectives and bolster its distribution of capabilities.

While CLI is not certain about the exact share it may sell, the CEO affirmed that Ascott would still be a crucial component of the firm's operations. This potential divestment would take place independently from CLI's plan to divest $7 billion to $9 billion from its legacy funds, assets, and non-core holdings in real estate investment trusts and private funds.

The statement comes as CLI concludes the five-year transformation plan initiated in 2021. The fund manager has successfully turned its performance around and is now focusing on accelerating its growth. In the first half of the fiscal year ending June 30, CLI reported a 13.9 percent increase in net profit to $327 million, up from $287 million the previous year.

The growth was driven by higher fee income from CLI's fund management platforms, which rose 20 percent to $687 million year on year. However, total revenue for the six-month period declined by 2 percent to approximately $1 billion due to the absence of contributions from divested assets and deconsolidation. Despite this, revenue has stabilized after a 24 percent drop a year ago.

Ascott, acquired by CapitaLand in 2008, experienced a 4 percent year-on-year growth in fee-related revenue during the first half of 2026, thanks to improved performance from existing properties and contributions from new properties. Ascott's portfolio is nearly entirely managed and franchised, with 96 percent of its properties under management and franchise contracts.

This "scalable asset-light" growth model has resulted in an increase of around 8,400 units across more than 40 properties, bringing the total pipeline to approximately 67,000 units.