Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern country will purchase Asia Square Tower 1 for $2.45 Billion (S$3.4 Billion) from BlackRock, one of the world’s leading investment management firm. According to the latter, this will be the largest single-tower real estate transaction in the Asia-Pacific region.
The 43- story retail and office building is located along Marina View at Marina Bay with more than 1.25 million square feet of net lettable area with tenants like Citigroup Inc. and KKR & Co. The corporation was advised by real estate firms JLL and CBRE. Reportedly, the firm had been seeking S$4 billion for the deal but later settled for less. It also owns a second tower in the Asia Square development. The two towers together are worth S$7 billion, BlackRock estimated.
Following this flagship transaction, we expect there will be increasing investor interest in Singapore prime office stock in the coming months.
Greg Hyland, head of capital markets Singapore at JLL, was quoted as saying.
The deal takes place as vacancy rates in Singapore’s office property sector are approaching the highest level in almost a decade with the supply of commercial properties set to augment amidst the low economic growth rate.
Mark McCombe, BlackRock’s Global Head of Institutional Client Business and Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors, commented,
We value our strong partnership with Qatar Investment Authority, and are delighted to have the opportunity to work closely with them on this landmark real estate transaction. Singapore remains well-positioned as a gateway city offering premium commercial real estate opportunities to long-term international investors.
