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Lee Yeow Chor (right) and Lee Yeow Seng
IOI Properties Group, Jing Wei (Studio W) For Forbes Asia
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Malaysia’s Richest 2026. See the full list here.
In recent years, brothers Lee Yeow Chor and Lee Yeow Seng have been expanding beyond their palm oil roots and putting the building blocks in place to reap a property windfall. The siblings’ plan for REIT listings, one each in Malaysia and Singapore between this year and next, was a kicker for the shares of their Kuala Lumpur-listed IOI Properties Group, which have nearly doubled from a year ago. The brothers added $3.3 billion to their net worth and rose three spots to No. 3 among the country’s richest.
The combined value of the assets under the proposed REITs is reportedly around $8 billion, with the Malaysian properties worth about $2 billion.
IOI Properties plans to raise 1.98 billion ringgit ($500 million) from the listing of the IOIPG Malaysian REIT in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to a company filing earlier this month. The property developer will also receive 5.5 billion REIT shares at 0.9 ringgit apiece and 2.7 billion ringgit cash from the sale of assets worth 7.6 billion ringgit into the REIT.
Upon listing, IOI Properties will retain 60% of the REIT, which will own properties such as the IOI City Mall in Putrajaya, the country’s biggest shopping mall, and the W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur along with several other hotels and office buildings. The developer can potentially inject more assets into the REIT in the future, Ng Joo Yee, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a research note this month.
Apart from its extensive property portfolio in Malaysia, IOI Properties has been expanding its footprint in Singapore, where the Lees are among the biggest landlords. Their prime holdings include office complex IOI Central Boulevard Towers in Marina Bay. The company acquired the roughly 50% stake it didn’t already own in the South Beach mixed-use development from billionaire Kwek Leng Beng’s City Developments for S$835 million ($650 million) in September. IOI Properties said it’s planning a separate REIT listing of its Singapore properties most likely in the next two years.