SINGAPORE: Serviced residence Ascott Raffles Place Singapore, which is housed within a restored 1950s heritage building, is set to be sold off for S$353.3 million by Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit).
The sale price is 64.3 per cent above the property’s latest valuation of S$215 million as at Dec 31, 2018, Ascott Reit said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday (Jan 9).
It said that the buyer is an unrelated third party, but did not reveal the name.
A Collyer Suite bedroom in Ascott Raffles Place Singapore. (Photo: Ascott)
Ascott Reit acquired the serviced residence from The Ascott Limited for S$220 million in 2012. The sale will help it realise an estimated net gain of S$134 million, which will be channelled into new investment opportunities, Ascott Reit said.
“The sale will give us the financial flexibility to recycle capital and invest in higher-yielding properties. We may also use the sale proceeds to pay down debt which will then increase our debt headroom for potential acquisitions of quality assets or to develop our own properties,” said Ms Beh Siew Kim, Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited’s CEO.
Once Southeast Asia’s tallest building, the 20-storey Ascott Raffles Place houses 146 units across 15,696 sqm of gross floor area. The property, which opened in 2008, has a leasehold of 999 years.
The transaction is expected to be completed in May.
Ascott Raffles Place accounted for 3 per cent of Ascott Reit’s gross profit for the nine months ended September 2018. The sale of the property is not expected to have a material impact on Ascott Reit’s financial performance.
Ascott Reit’s other operational properties in Singapore are Ascott Orchard, Citadines Mount Sophia and Somerset Liang Court. lyf one-north is expected to open in 2021.
