Friday, January 25, 2008

Lippo-Linked Fund Sells Anson 79 Stake

Source : The Straits Times, Jan 25, 2008

139% GAIN IN TWO YEARS

A REAL estate fund linked to Indonesia's Lippo Group has sold its stake in an Anson Road office block - achieving a 139 per cent gain in just two years.

Ferrell Asset Management said yesterday it sold the 12 floors it owned at Anson 79 for $215 million - more than double the $90 million it originally paid in January 2006.

The buyer is SEB Asset Management, part of German pension fund manager SEB. It bought 12 floors of office space in nearby Springleaf Tower in October.

SEB's purchase price for the 117,423 sq ft of freehold office space at Anson 79 worked out to $1,831 per sq ft (psf) of strata area. This was slightly lower than the $2,088 psf of net lettable area the company paid for the 99-year leasehold Springleaf Tower.

One reason is that Springleaf Tower is a newer development that commands higher rents, according to market experts. 'No doubt, Anson 79 is freehold, but it is an older building that was completed in 1992,' said one expert.

Asking rents were $10.50 psf in September at the now fully-occupied Springleaf Tower. At Anson 79, average rents stand at $5 psf due to locked-in leases, but the latest rent achieved there is $9.50 psf.

Property consultants estimate SEB's entry yield at Anson 79 to be about 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent. The sale agreement was struck in September but completed only last week.

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