Growing Mapletree: Singapore’s real estate finance company (A)

• Main Authors: GEORGE, Gerard, WONG, Wanjun, BHATTACHARYA, Lipika
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Growth Strategy; Asset Light Business model; Sustainable Growth; Internationalization; New Markets; Market Expansion; Asian Studies; Marketing
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/360; https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-20-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D/SMU-20-0025%20%5BMapletree%5D/SMU-20-0025%20%5BMapletree%20A%5D.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In 2015, Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree), a real estate and capital management company headquartered in Singapore, was due to launch its new Five-Year Growth plan. The key decisions that the company needed to take were: should Mapletree extend its reach geographically outside Asia? Should it also consider going into any of the new asset classes—student accommodation, corporate housing and data centres–that it was currently evaluating? The case is divided into two parts. Case A is set in December 2014, and discusses the strategic decisions the company needs to take for future growth. It has several possible options – grow in the existing markets, expand its product portfolio, or enter a new market. Adopting a hybrid strategy, Mapletree decided on a mixed approach that included some geographical diversification as well as a strong push for new products in existing markets. Case A also discusses how Mapletree put together its initial five-year plan and expanded in Asia before venturing into Western markets. Case B is set in 2019 and focuses on how Mapletree achieved its second phase of growth. The key takeaway here is how the company organised itself internally to deliver growth. Discussion points in the case are around the elements of shared incentives, clearly aligned plans, and a team culture of successful execution. The case also elaborates on how Mapletree put together its new five-year plan with a clear and ambitious goal of doubling its assets under management (AUM), and then backed it up with specific geographic and product market initiatives. This case is intended to teach students about the importance of strategic decision-making when an organisation is evaluating growth opportunities and the considerations involved in choosing the path of internationalisation. It will also help students understand - (1) The decision making involved in a company’s choice of growth strategy (2) Why firms expand internationally (3) Strategy of segmentation and product positioning.