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Singapore’s biggest office landlord CapitaLand Commercial Trust is said to be in talks to acquire the Duo office and retail development within the Bugis area, in a deal that could be worth over $1.5 billion, reported Bloomberg citing people with knowledge of the matter.
In fact, other parties are also interested in the 39-storey office building known as the Duo Tower and the integrated Duo Galleria mall, said the sources who did not wish to be identified as the information is private.
With tenants including Chevron, Mastercard and Abbott Laboratories, Duo Tower has 568,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, while the shopping mall has 56,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space.
The owner of the development is separately looking for a buyer for the project’s hotel component in a deal that could fetch up to $500 million, noted the sources.
The project is owned by M+S, which is a joint venture between Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings and Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional.
However, the sources noted that there is no certainty that the talks would lead to a transaction as no final agreements have been reached.
The strong office rental growth in Singapore is expected to extend into 2019, on the back of a strong labour market and limited new completions, according to Bloomberg. Analysts also expect new office space supply in the city-state to shrink to a 12-year low this year.
Meanwhile, a representative of CapitaLand Commercial Trust’s manager said it “continually evaluates opportunities” that could create value and have a strategic fit with the company.
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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