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Temasek-backed Mapletree Investments and Blackstone Group have submitted bids to acquire Samsung C&T Corporation’s office building in Seoul, reported Korean Investor.
A construction and trading unit of the Samsung Group, Samsung C&T has put up the 32-storey building for sale to improve its financial status.
The 81,117 sq m building was completed in 2007 and is one of three buildings within Samsung Town. It is located near Gangnam subway station and the landmark Gangnam Finance Center, which is owned by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Given its prime location, the property is expected to fetch up to 787 billion won (S$730 million).
This works out to 32 million won per 3.3 sq m, or the highest unit price for a commercial property in South Korea.
Blackstone is believed to have submitted a bid for the building without entering into a consortium with a South Korean firm.
It is not known if Mapletree Investments has teamed up with a local investor when it made its bid.
Other bidders for the office building include KORAMCO, NH Investment & Securities, IGIS Asset Management, Pebblestone Asset Management, real estate investment trust company JR AMC, and Mastern Investment Management.
The Seoul Economic Daily noted that this is the first time Mapletree Investments has directly made a bid for a South Korean property. It had previously invested in logistic centres in South Korea through Mapletree Logistics Trust, its listed REIT.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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