GuocoLand Limited ("GuocoLand") was incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company named Sealion Hotels Pte Ltd on 31 March 1976. It was converted to a public company on 30 September 1978 and its shares were listed on the SGX-ST on 14 November 1978. After the sale of its then principal asset, the Hyatt Regency, Singapore in 1986, the Company became an investment holding company operating under the name of First Capital Corporation Ltd.
 

In late 1990, the Group ventured into property development and investment. Property development, property investment, property management and property-related activities now form the Group's core business.

The Group was a pioneer in the development of 99-year leasehold condominiums in Singapore, targeted primarily at local Housing Development Board ("HDB") upgraders. Since then, the Group has successfully developed and sold 34 residential developments in Singapore, yielding more than 9,000 homes and has established itself as a major developer in the private residential property market in Singapore.
 

On 18 November 2002, the company assumed its present name of GuocoLand Limited to better reflect its focus as a property company. The change of name is also in line with that of its parent company, Guoco Group Limited, a public company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

Today, GuocoLand is one of the major property companies listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited. As at 30 June 2023, the Group has total assets of $12.01 billion and total equity attributable to ordinary equity holders of $4.27 billion.
 

Besides Singapore, the Group has been active in the real estate sector in China since 1994 with investments in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Tianjin.

From 2004, the Group also entered the real estate sector in Malaysia through its acquisition of a major stake in GuocoLand (Malaysia) Berhad, a major Malaysian property group listed on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

In September 2006, GuocoLand also invested in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with the award of an Investment Licence to build a fully-integrated development on a 17.5-hectare site in Binh Duong Province. It is 17km north of Ho Chi Minh City.

In April 2017, GuocoLand marked a significant milestone in its expansion beyond Asia, entering into the new markets of the United Kingdom and Australia through a strategic partnership with Eco World Development Group Berhad in Eco World International Berhad. This gave GuocoLand immediate exposure to four development projects under construction in London and Sydney with substantially lowered project risks.