Warburg Pincus has shown its hand at National Australia Bank-backed Cambridge Industrial Trust, securing an option to buy a 10 per cent stake at a significant premium.
The private equity giant took 10 per cent of CIT stock via an option at S70¢ each while the securities were trading at S55¢, according to a release on CIT's website.
CIT is a Singapore-listed property trust which is managed by Cambridge Industrial Trust Management Limited (CITM).
NAB owns a 56 per cent stake in CITM and has been assessing its options, as first revealed by Street Talk.
It's understood Warburg Pincus' investment was made through e-Shang Redwood Group (ESR), which it acquired in 2011. ESR is a developer, owner and operator of modern logistics real estate across Asia.
As this column also first reported, Warburg Pincus had been in talks to buy CITM as recently as this time last year, before failing to agree to terms after protracted negotiations and walking away.
However, it is understood talks were reignited in August.
CITM is run by property veteran Philip Levinson who previously ran Blackstone's third party private placement business and is also credited with starting Blackstone's Australian operations in 2009.
