Bookmark & Share
Metro Holdings, via its fully-owned unit Metrobilt Construction, has entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with an affiliate of SRIF GP to acquire a premium Grade A office property located at 7 and 9 Tampines Grande.
Through a newly incorporated company, Ascend TGrande, the two parties entered into a share-sale agreement with Golden Crest Holdings to purchase all the shares of T-Grande Investment Holding, which owns T-Grande Property Holding – the owner and operator of the property.
In an SGX filing, Metro revealed that the group’s 50 percent capital commitment for the investment is about $45.6 million.
“The Metro Group’s commitment and expenses relating to the transaction will be funded from internal cash sources and external borrowings,” it said.
Located within Tampines Regional Centre, the property comprises two blocks of eight-storey office towers that are linked by an entrance lobby with retail as well as food and beverage outlets on the ground floor.
It has a site area and gross floor area of about 86,110 sq ft and 361,660 sq ft respectively. The property also has a total net lettable area of about 288,000 sq ft.
It has an occupancy rate of 91 percent, with tenants including conglomerates in the technology, insurance industry and financial services such as Hitachi Asia, Aldwych International, NCR Asia Pacific, AIA Singapore and Sysmex Asia Pacific.
Metro noted that the investment “represents an excellent preposition for Metro to mark its entry and gain exposure to Singapore’s limited Grade-A decentralised office market”.
And given the property’s strategic location and connectivity to both the public and private transportation network, the investment will allow Metro “to leverage on the growth potential for office market particularly in the eastern side of Singapore”.
The property is also expected to immediately contribute to Metro’s stable income stream with potential positive rental reversion from upcoming lease renewals.
“The property has also received strata-subdivision approval from the relevant authorities which will provide flexibility for it to be held as a whole for long-term investment or for sale as individual strata units,” it added.
Metro does not expect the investment to significantly affect the group’s consolidated net tangible asset per share and consolidated earnings per share for the financial year ending 31 March 2020.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
Related Articles:
Metro Holdings to sell 50% stake in Beijing mall