Global Logistic's co-founder Jeffrey Schwartz dies

Singapore

JEFFREY H Schwartz, co-founder and deputy chairman of mainboard-listed Global Logistic Properties (GLP), died on Wednesday, aged 55, the company announced on Thursday.

A note published on GLP's website on Nov 4 said that Mr Schwartz, who was chairman of the executive committee, had decided to take time off to focus on health-related issues but would continue to be involved in strategic decisions.

"His vision was key in making GLP the company that it is today. I am honoured to continue his legacy," GLP co-founder and CEO Ming Z Mei said in the Thursday announcement, adding: "He will be greatly missed by our company, its stakeholders, our employees and the industry overall."

A GLP spokesman also said on Thursday that in the absence of Mr Schwartz, GLP's growth strategy and expansion plans will remain the same and that the CEO will continue leading the company with the support of a "strong and deep management team that have worked together for over 10 years".

A logistics provider in China, Japan and Brazil, GLP went public in 2010, but the company was incorporated in 2008 when the co-founders partnered with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, currently its largest shareholder, to acquire ProLogis Inc's operations in China as well as a stake in its Japanese property funds for US$1.3 billion.

But Mr Schwartz's history with GLP went as far back as 1994 when he joined ProLogis, a global industrial real estate investment trust (Reit) listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in San Francisco, California. In 2002, Mr Schwartz - a 1985 graduate of the Harvard Business School - spearheaded ProLogis' entry into Asia and was appointed its CEO in 2005, a post which he held till his resignation in 2008.

Under the co-founders' stewardship, GLP achieved significant milestones. In FY2010, the company issued the largest initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore since 1993; in FY2013, it listed Japan's largest real estate IPO, a US$2.6 billion GLP J-Reit on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and also expanded its presence into the Brazilian market.

Goldman Sachs analyst Paul Lian expects a slowdown in GLP's global expansion push but not in its growth trajectory in Japan and China. His report published on Thursday stated that GLP's strategy is already in place with GLP J-Reit well-established as an asset recycling platform in Japan. He also expects a gear shift in growth in China with the GLP China joint-venture.

Mr Lian also gained assurance from the fact that GLP's CEO, who is "widely viewed by the market as instrumental to GLP's operations", will continue to lead the company.

When contacted, a GIC spokesman said: "We are saddened to hear of Jeff's passing and wish to offer our condolences to Jeff's family and all GLP management and staff. GIC is confident of GLP's management team and business strategies. We believe the GLP management will continue to stride ahead..."

Mr Schwartz is survived by his wife and four children.