Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLCT)—controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Frasers Property—agreed to sell an office tower in the Singapore central business district for S$810.8 million ($603 million) as the company pivots towards warehouse assets amid an e-commerce boom.
The 15-story office block, called Cross Street Exchange, on the edge of the Raffles Place business district is being sold at a 28.3% premium to the property’s book value of S$632 million as of September 2021, the Singapore-listed real estate investment trust said Tuesday in a statement. It didn’t disclose the identity of the ultimate buyer, Mingtiandi reported today that Hong Kong-based private equity firm PAG is buying the property, which is among FLCT’s most valuable commercial assets.
“The divestment of Cross Street Exchange is transacted at an attractive premium over its book value, re-weighting our portfolio towards logistics and industrial properties,” Robert Wallace, CEO of FLCT’s manager, said in a statement. Once the divestment is completed by March this year, logistics and industrial assets will comprise about 67% of FLCT’s portfolio from 61%.
Demand for warehouse assets has been increasing amid a pandemic-induced e-commerce boom. While divesting some of its non-core assets, FLCT has also been bulking up its warehouse portfolio, buying six warehouse properties across Europe for S$548.7 million in May last year.
FLCT—which was formed from the merger of Frasers Property’s industrial and commercial REITs in 2020—owns and manages about S$7.3 billion worth of logistics and commercial assets across Australia, Germany, Singapore, the U.K., and the Netherlands.
Charoen, 77, took control of Frasers Property following his successful takeover of Fraser & Neave in 2013. He is also the controlling shareholder of Chang beer maker Thai Beverages. With a net worth of $12.7 billion, the self-made billionaire was ranked No. 3 when the list of Thailand’s 50 Richest was published in June.