Thursday, September 20, 2007

Kajima To Invest $900m In Asia Over 2-3 Years

Source : The Business Times, September 20, 2007

(SINGAPORE) Construction and property conglomerate Kajima Corp plans to invest around S$900 million in Asia over the next 2-3 years to further diversify outside of its Japan home base, a senior executive of the firm told Reuters yesterday.

The Asian arm of the group said it was also looking to double its contribution to overall revenue to 10 per cent in the next three years as it steps up investment in the region.

'We would look to invest first in Jakarta, Phuket and Singapore,' Masao Hashimoto, vice-MD of Kajima's overseas arm in Asia, told Reuters in an interview.

Mr Hashimoto said the group was keen to develop a shopping mall in Singapore, where it already has about S$1 billion in assets, but had yet to find a suitable plot of land.

Related Link - http://tinyurl.com/ytao8m
Kajima's News Release


'We would like to build an office, hotel and convention centre on our vacant land in Jakarta, which is almost five hectares,' he said. The company also wants to develop villas and a hotel on its land in the Thai resort island of Phuket. Outside of Singapore and Japan, the group holds about US$600 million in Asian assets.

Like rival builders Obayashi Corp and Shimizu Corp, Kajima is facing a cut in public works spending in its domestic market as Tokyo looks to shore up its ailing finances. The group is targeting the Middle East and Africa to grow its construction business.

Kajima, which has a market capitalisation of US$3.8 billion, said yesterday that it had teamed up with US investment bank Lehman Bros to build a Singapore office building for S$450 million. -- Reuters

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