United Industrial Corporation (UIC), a subsidiary of UOL Group, has acquired a further 24.27 percent stake in Marina Centre Holdings for $485 million in cash, bringing its total stake to 77.34 percent.
The remaining 22.6 percent are held by its parent company UOL Group.
The additional shares were acquired from OUE Ltd (10 percent); Finnegan Investments Ltd (10.27 percent); and Mackmoor Pte Ltd (four percent).
UIC also acquired a 25 percent stake in Aquamarina Hotel Private Limited (AHPL), which is an associated company of MCH and UIC Group, from OUE unit Hotel Investment (Marina) for $190 million.
MCH is a property group that holds interests in the Marina Square retail and commercial complex, which comprises the Marina Square shopping mall as well as the Marina Square hotels – namely, Marina Mandarin Singapore, Pan Pacific Singapore and the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.
Meanwhile, AHPL, which is 50 percent owned by MCH, owns the Marina Mandarin Singapore.
“This transaction gives us a 100 percent stake in Marina Centre Holdings Private Limited (MCH) and Aquamarina Hotel Private Limited,” said UIC president and CEO Lim Hock San.
He added that full control of the shopping mall and hotel provides them an “opportunity to capitalise on the Marina Centre precinct’s growth potential consistent with our long-term investment strategy”.
In view of the acquisition, OUE subsidiary Singapore Mandarin International Hotels has agreed to cease operating the Marina Mandarin Singapore.
“This will also give us an opportunity to rebrand and rename the 575-room hotel,” said Liam Wee Sin, group chief executive of UOL.
He noted that UOL and UIC will “jointly explore asset enhancement opportunities to unlock value for the various assets, including possibility of tapping into the Incentive Scheme introduced in the latest Master Plan 2019”.
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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