Former US President George W. Bush’s brother will become the chairman of SingXpress Land as he invests in the Singapore-based real estate developer. The stock surged to an 11-month high.

Neil Bush is buying shares of the company as it raises $226.5 million through a rights offer and share sale, according to a statement on the Singapore stock exchange yesterday. The company will be renamed SingHaiyi Group.

The developer, which has ambitions to develop real estate outside the city-state, said it may invest in distressed properties and those facing foreclosures in the US. It plans to tap on the business connections of Neil Bush, whose father was also a former US president.

“The board has great confidence in the abilities and network of Neil Bush and we look forward to his contributions as the company explores real estate investment opportunities” in the US and elsewhere, the company said in the statement.

SingXpress closed about 18% higher at 2 cents today.

Neil Bush has been a business partner of Gordon Tang, who controls the entity that’s the largest shareholder of SingXpress, according to the statement. The transactions also include offering 2.2 billion shares amounting to $33 million to buy a company that’s owned by Tang and Neil Bush.

Neil Bush is the third of five children of George H.W. Bush, who served as the U.S. president from 1989 to 1993, and brother of George W. Bush, a two-term president from 2001 to 2009, according to a statement filed to the stock exchange.

“I hope to strengthen the investment opportunities between Asia and the United States, using SingHaiyi and Singapore as a springboard,” Neil Bush said in the statement. Calls to his Austin office weren’t connected after regular business hours.

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