KUALA LUMPUR: M+S Pte Ltd, in which Khazanah Nasional Bhd has a 60% stake, is disposing of its entire stake in Ophir-Rochor Commercial Pte Ltd (ORC) to Allianz Real Estate and real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners for S$1.575 billion (RM4.725 billion).
The selling price equates to S$2,570 (RM7,725) per square foot of net lettable area.
“With the office and retail assets performing well beyond expectations, we are delighted that the proposed transaction of S$1.575 billion at a record price for this area has presented the opportunity to maximise returns for our shareholders,” M+S’ CEO Kemmy Tan said in a statement.
ORC, a wholly owned subsidiary of M+S, is the developer and owner of Duo Tower and Duo Galleria, the office and retail portion of Duo, a mixed-use development, which also includes Duo Residences and the Andaz Singapore hotel, in central Singapore.
She said M+S, which would continue to own the hotel Andaz Singapore, looked forward to working alongside the powerful combination of Allianz Real Estate and Gaw Capital Partners, who have impressive global track records in real estate management and development, to further reinforce Duo as an attractive place for global business and travellers.
“Duo provides an unparalleled live-work-play environment and is poised to establish itself as one of Singapore’s major business hubs. It will be an excellent addition to our global 24x7 cities office portfolio,” said Allianz Real Estate’s Asia-Pacific CEO Rushabh Desai.
“This exciting transaction with Allianz Real Estate marks a great step forward in our flourishing partnership with the group. Duo has enormous potential, given its fantastic location and connectivity, and this marks an important milestone for Gaw Capital in the Singapore real estate market,” he said.
The Duo development is situated in the Ophir-Rochor corridor in Singapore, right next to the heritage district Kampong Glam, and was designed by acclaimed architect Ole Scheeren.
Duo Tower consists of 20 floors of prime Grade-A office space occupied by prestigious MNCs and leading local companies, while Duo Galleria is a retail mall that connects directly to the Bugis MRT station, an interchange for the Downtown and East West lines.
Over the course of the last three years of operations, M+S has steadily grown and sustained a vibrant community of tenants, retailers, homeowners, shoppers and hotel guests at Duo.
The development has become an icon in Bugis and has been instrumental in injecting greater vibrancy and cultural diversity to the area by ushering in multinational office tenants, fresh retail concepts and the internationally renowned Andaz Singapore hotel which has a global client-base.
“M+S has done a fantastic job developing the Duo office and hotel complex and has successfully leased the building to a full roster of world class tenants.
“As M+S will continue to hold the hotel portion of the complex, we look forward to working together to enhance the asset and ride on the continued growth of the Bugis area as a new leisure and business district.” said Kenneth Gaw, president and managing principal at Gaw Capital Partners.
According to the statement, Allianz Real Estate acts on behalf of several Allianz Group companies, while real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners acts on behalf of a sovereign wealth fund separate account.
