- Business
- City Developments Limited (CDL), a Singapore-based global real estate company founded in 1963 and headquartered at Republic Plaza in Singapore, engages in property development, investment, and hospitality operations across approximately 168 locations in 29 countries and regions. The company develops and sells residential properties including condominiums, executive condominiums, and landed homes; commercial properties such as integrated developments, shopping malls like City Square Mall, Katong Shopping Centre, and Tanglin Shopping Centre, and office spaces including Republic Plaza and Fuji Xerox Towers; hospitality assets under the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels brand encompassing luxury hotels like The St. Regis Singapore, W Singapore Sentosa Cove, and JW Marriott South Beach, alongside serviced apartments and student accommodation; and investment properties for long-term rental income. CDL operates through segments including property development, hotel operations, investment properties, and others such as management consultancy and share investments, targeting markets in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, Japan, and Europe with a portfolio exceeding 23 million square meters of gross floor area in commercial, hospitality, and residential assets.
In recent developments, CDL agreed to sell its 50.1% stake in the South Beach mixed-use development in Singapore to IOI Properties Group Berhad for S$834.2 million based on a S$2.75 billion valuation, marking a 3% premium over the prior assessment and expected to yield a S$465 million gain by third quarter 2025 while enhancing financial flexibility and reducing net gearing. The company expanded its UK private rented sector portfolio with the acquisition of the 261-unit 1NQ project in Manchester for £75.6 million and Yardhouse in central London, its first PRS development there featuring a 17-storey apartment block. Further, CDL's subsidiary Copthorne Hotel Holdings acquired a 706-room Holiday Inn in London's Kensington area for £280 million ($370 million), and announced the divestment of Bespoke Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi for JPY 14 billion as part of capital recycling efforts. Amid these moves, CDL navigated a 2025 boardroom dispute between Executive Chairman Kwek Leng Beng and CEO Sherman Kwek, resolved with the withdrawal of legal action and retention of new directors. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels operates as a key wholly-owned subsidiary following its 2019 privatization.