CapitaLand has finalised its search for a new CEO since surprisingly announcing in Jun that its current CEO Mr. Lim Ming Yan would be retiring as the President and Group CEO. The person to take over the helm would be Mr.

Lee Chee Koon, 43, who is currently the Group CIO of CapitaLand.

Mr. Lee only assumed this CIO role in Jan 2018 following an organisational restructuring. He will now take over the CEO position with effect from 15 Sep this year.

Mr Lee has spent more than a decade at CapitaLand since he joined the Group in Feb 2007 as Vice President, Office of the President.

He subsequently spent the majority of his CapitaLand career at The Ascott Limited, the serviced residence arm, from Jul 2009 to Dec 2017 (CEO since Jun 2013 until his CIO role), where he oversaw the strong expansion of the division. Therefore, we expect the transition to be smooth given that Mr. Lee would be familiar with the culture and various aspects of the business.

Furthermore, Mr. Lim would stay on as a board director until 31 Dec this year to provide guidance and continuity to the new management team.

Overall, the decision is slightly surprising to us, but we note that CapitaLand has historically promoted from within for its top job.

We maintain our BUY rating and S$4.09 fair value on CapitaLand.

Source: OCBC Research - 29 Aug 2018