Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) will be acquiring Bedok Point from Woodlands Complex for S$127 million.
Woodlands Complex is a wholly owned subsidiary of Frasers Centrepoint Limited.
Frasers Centrepoint Limited is a subsidiary of Fraser & Neave Limited (F&N).
In statement released Thursday, F&N said the divestment is in line with its strategy of unlocking value from its commercial properties at the appropriate time to recycle value. It added that the net proceeds will be re-invested.
According to trust manager Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management (FCAM), it is in the process of determining an optimal debt and equity financing plan for the acquisition.
In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, it said “debt financing is expected to be in the form of a drawdown from loan facilities available to FCT while equity financing is expected to be in the form of a private placement”.
Bedok Point has a net lettable area of 80,985 square feet and an occupancy rate of 97.4 per cent. It will become the fifth mall in FCT’s portfolio.
“With this acquisition, the asset size of our portfolio is expected to grow to S$1.66 billion from S$1.53 billion,” said FCAM CEO Chew Tuan Chiong.
“In addition to the benefits from income diversification, a larger market share of the suburban retail mall market and an enlarged tenant base, our unitholders can expect to enjoy higher distribution per unit from this yield-accretive acquisition.”
The acquisition was negotiated on an arm’s length basis between FCAM and Frasers Centrepoint Limited’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Woodlands Complex. The purchase consideration is the average of two valuations by independent valuers Knight Frank and Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants.
At a media briefing, Mr Chew said the acquisition was timed in order to “wait for the new mall to stabilise”.
Bedok Mall was soft launched last December.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 29 Jul 2011