IGB acquires land in Perak and Jakarta IGB Corp Bhd is making its maiden foray into Indonesia with the purchase of a 1.1ha site in West Jakarta for US$30.8 million (RM97 million). In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on June 18, IGB said its wholly-owned subsidiary, IGB International Ventures Sdn Bhd, and British Virgin Islands-based joint-venture (JV) partner Aspire Horizon Ltd will acquire the land. IGB and Aspire Horizon have established JV entity Wilmer Link Ltd on a 52:48 shareholding basis. Wilmer will in turn acquire a special-purpose vehicle (SPV), which will own the land in Indonesia, according to IGB. Details of the potential development were not specified.
In a separate statement, IGB said it had purchased a 9,607 sq ft freehold tract in Ipoh, Perak, for RM3.3 million from Chin Peck Soo Holdings Sdn Bhd (CPS) for a hotel development under its CItitel brand worth RM32.2 million.
Starhill REIT to acquire Aussie Marriotts
YTL Corp Bhd’s Starhill REIT is acquiring three Marriott hotels in Australia for A$415 million (RM1.31 billion). The purchase of the Marriott hotels in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne will give Starhill real estate investment trust (REIT) the largest portfolio of overseas property assets of any Malaysian REIT.
“This acquisition will enlarge the trust’s portfolio to approximately RM3 billion from RM1.58 billion,” said Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, chief executive of Projek Pintar Sdn Bhd, the manager of Starhill REIT, on June 14. Yeoh is also the largest shareholder of Starhill REIT through YTL Corp, which owns 56.4% of the trust.
“The acquisition represents a yield accretive opportunity for the trust, generating two income streams -- stable fixed-lease rentals arising from its existing portfolio and variable income from the three Marriot hotels, increasing the potential for distribution per unit growth and variations,” he said. Under the transaction, Starhill REIT will pay RM786.34 million for the Sydney Harbour Marriott and RM356.85 million and RM167.37 million for the Brisbane and Melbourne properties respectively. Currently, almost all of Starhill REIT’s assets are hotels and resorts, except for Starhill Gallery, an upmarket shopping mall.
Ivory in talks to develop commercial components in Bayan Mutiara
Ivory Properties Group Bhd is in talks with a few parties — both local and foreign — to develop the commercial components in its Bayan Mutiara project, says executive director/COO Murly Manokharan on June 19. He said the interested parties include those from Singapore and Japan. “We expect one deal on the joint-venture partner within the next three months,” he said, adding that Ivory is looking for value-add investors, specifically for commercial content, hospital and offices. Joint-venture partners would also enable the group to raise benchmarks in terms of pricing, quality, planning and design. The project covers a total land area of 41.5ha, comprising 27.3ha of existing land and 14.2ha to be reclaimed.
The development components will include condominiums, offices and retail spaces, waterfront villas and medical facilities. The commercial content would comprise about 20% of the whole project, offering between 2.5 million and three million sq ft of commercial space. Murly said the first phase of residential development in Bayan Mutiara would be launched at year-end or in the first quarter of next year with a gross development value of between RM700 million and RM800 million. To be developed under a joint-venture company, Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd, the first phase will comprise affordable homes with 1,500 units measuring 500 to 600 sq ft.
This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 916, June 25-July 1, 2012