Lippo close to buying stake in 79 Anson Rd
INDONESIA’S Lippo Group continues to grow its footprint in Singapore. It is close to signing a deal to buy a 55 per cent stake in the freehold 79 Anson Road office block for about $90 million from Pramerica Asia, formerly known as GRA Singapore, sources say.
The purchase price works out to around $830 per square foot, based on the previously reported 108,000 sq ft net lettable area (NLA) that Pramerica Asia owns in the building.
The other 45 per cent of the 23-storey building, which has a total NLA of 197,238 sq ft, is owned by the Central Provident Fund Board, according to earlier reports.
Pramerica Asia will exit the investment with a loss. It bought its space at 79 Anson Road in 2000 for about $135 million or $1,250 psf.
The transaction is Lippo’s second major office acquisition in Singapore in the past couple of years. In August 2004, it bought a substantial interest in 78 Shenton Way - now known as Lippo Centre - in a $151 million transaction that translated to $505 psf of net lettable area. The property is on a site that had about 78 years left of its original 99-year lease then.
Lippo also bought Newton Heights through a collective sale in February last year for $43.6 million. It plans to redevelop the freehold site into a 120-unit condo that is slated for launch this year.
The group’s Singapore-listed vehicle Auric Pacific last month bought Bukit Timah Mansions through a $15.4 million en bloc sale. The property, between Balmoral and Keng Chin roads, is said to have a site area of about 20,000 sq ft. Factoring in an estimated development charge of about $6 million, the acquisition price works out to a land cost of about $510 psf of potential gross floor area. The existing property is a seven-storey block with 10 apartments. There are also car parking lots and a swimming pool.
Lippo has been scouring the island for property investments. It has been bidding at major government land tenders in recent months - including the Business & Financial Centre facing Marina Bay, the plum Orchard Turn site tender which closed last month, and yesterday’s tender for the former Glutton’s Square site also in Orchard Road. Lippo emerged as the second-highest bidder in the Glutton’s Square tender.
Source : Business Times - 19 Jan 2006
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