Jones Lang LaSalle starts Asia mall management firm
HONG KONG, April 8 (Reuters) - Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL.N) and Australia's Colonial First State Property Management have created a retail property management firm for Asia, where burgeoning consumerism is fuelling shopping mall construction.
The new company, called Sandalwood and based in Singapore, will help landlords and developers build, lease and manage shopping centres, according to a statement from Jones Lang LaSalle, which has a 50 percent stake in the venture.
Sandalwood will manage 40 shopping centres from June 1 that are mostly handled now by Jones Lang LaSalle, which will provide the bulk of the new firm's 740 employees.
The two partners declined to give details of their investment in Sandalwood.
Jones Lang LaSalle estimated that 1,000 shopping malls would be built in Asia between 2006 and 2012 as the region's fast growing economies fuel consumption.
In China, retail sales are rising at around 20 percent annually, and India expects around $30 billion of investment in its retail sector over the next seven years.
Sandalwood will initially be active in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Macau, India, Hong Kong and Singapore. (Reporting by Dominic Whiting; editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
