CapitaLand Development names new CEO

Singapore real estate giant CapitaLand Group has appointed Jonathan Yap as the new chief executive officer, effective June 5, of its development arm CapitaLand Development (CLD), which focuses on Vietnam, Singapore and China as its core markets.

Yap is currently the CEO of listed funds at CapitaLand Investment (CLI), which is the listed real estate investment management platform of CapitaLand. He will succeed Jason Leow, who will retire and relinquish his position, the heavyweight announced Thursday. Leow will be on the same day appointed adviser to CapitaLand Group, majority owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings.

“Jason has been instrumental in leading the growth of CapitaLand’s business in Singapore, China and Vietnam, building the leadership bench strength and fostering a strong culture of teamwork,” said CapitaLand chairman Wong Kan Seng. “We are glad that Jason will continue to serve as an advisor to the group and help provide counsel from his wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise.”

Yap has more than 30 years of experience in real estate across Asia. He joined the group following the merger of CapitaLand and Ascendas-Singbridge (ASB) in 2019. At the time, he was chief operating officer and group chief financial officer of ASB.

Prior to his current appointment, Yap was president of CapitaLand Financial, overseeing the group’s fund management business. He holds a bachelor of science in estate management and a master of science in project management from the National University of Singapore.

CLD has a portfolio worth S$21.8 billion ($16.4 billion) as of December 31 2022, focusing on its core markets of Vietnam, Singapore and China. CLD’s real estate development capabilities span various asset classes, including integrated developments, retail, office, lodging, residential, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centers.

CapitaLand Group is in talks to acquire assets worth roughly $1.5 billion from Vietnam’s biggest listed property firm Vinhomes JSC of the country’s largest conglomerate Vingroup. A deal of this size would mark one of the largest real estate transactions in Southeast Asia in the last few years.

Vinhomes, with its property assets across Vietnam, is listed as VHM on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and has a market value of $8 billion as the country’s biggest real estate developer by market capitalization.