Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Forms New Venture With China Vanke For Residential Development In China

Toronto, Canada (March 25, 2014): Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced today that it has formed a new venture with China Vanke Co., Ltd. (Vanke), the largest residential developer in China. Through this venture, CPPIB will over time invest US$250 million in the Chinese residential market. The venture will focus on new residential development projects in large cities across China, where there are rising incomes and strong economic fundamentals.  It is expected that these factors will provide significant demand for middle income housing. Vanke will be responsible for sourcing projects for the venture. To seed the venture, CPPIB and Vanke are investing in a project located in Qingdao, Shandong Province in China.   Graeme Eadie, Senior Vice-President, Real Estate Investments for CPPIB, said, "We see this as an excellent opportunity to expand our presence in the country and invest in the residential sector alongside Vanke, an experienced and market-leading developer with a proven track record of delivering high-quality homes to China's ever-growing middle class. Asia continues to be an important real estate market for CPPIB and one where we already have significant investments in the commercial property and logistics sectors." Founded in 1984, Vanke is the largest residential developer in China with revenues of over US$22 billion in 2013 and has developments in 65 large- and medium-sized cities across the country and four overseas cities. To date, Vanke has developed over 500,000 residential units and provides property management services to over 400 residential communities. At December 31, 2013, CPPIB's investments in Asia totalled C$23.4 billion representing 11.6% of the total portfolio, including C$4.2 billion of real estate investments. About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board  Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 18 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London, Hong Kong, New York City and São Paulo, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At December 31, 2013, the CPP Fund totalled C$201.5 billion. For more information about CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.com.