JTC Corporation (JTC) on Friday said that it will be divesting two tranches of its properties totalling S$688.63 million to Soilbuild Group Holdings and Mapletree Industrial Trust as part of the second phase of its divestment exercise.
These comprise over 300,000 square metres of property space in total.
The first tranche, made up of ten blocks of flatted factories and amenity centres, will be awarded to Soilbuild Group for S$288.33 million. Meanwhile, the second tranche, comprising 11 blocks of flatted factories and amenity centres, will be awarded to Mapletree Industrial Trust for S$400.3 million.
Soilbuild Group Holdings is a homegrown integrated property developer, while Mapletree Industrial Trust is another homegrown real estate investment trust with a portfolio of industrial properties.
CEO of JTC, Manohar Khiatani, said the aim of JTC’s divestment exercise is to promote competitiveness and vibrancy in the industrial property market, so that existing and prospective tenants may benefit from more options and choices.
The market for ready-built facilities, in particular, is sufficiently mature with active private sector developers to promote a strong competition in the industrial property market.
JTC said it received quality proposals from major industry players for this second phase of its divestment exercise. It added that Soilbuild Group Holdings and Mapletree Industrial Trust were selected after a rigorous two-stage tender process.
The second phase of the divestment exercise was started in October last year, when JTC launched the tender for a real estate consultant.
The first phase of the divestment exercise was completed in 2008, when JTC divested a selected portfolio of high-rise ready-built properties to Mapletree Investments.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 1 Jul 2011