DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 07th March 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore among Asian cities in property investors’ sight: report
Singapore is ranked ninth globally in attracting major property investments, joining Hong Kong and Sydney as the only Asia-Pacific cities to make the top ten, according to a report. North American cities dominated by scooping up six places among the leading names, with New York in pole position, followed by Los Angeles, Washington DC and Chicago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-among-asian-cities-in-property-investors-sight-report

Katong Plaza relaunched for collective sale with approval for hotel use
Katong Plaza – currently zoned for commercial and residential use – has obtained approval from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for hotel use at a gross plot ratio of 3.0. The freehold site has a land area of 34,044 square feet and a total allowable maximum gross floor area of 102,133 sq ft.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/katong-plaza-relaunched-for-collective-sale-with-approval-for-hotel-use

Jalan Kilang light industrial property for sale at S$20-25m
An eight-storey light industrial development located at 10 Jalan Kilang – off Jalan Bukit Merah – has been launched for sale via an expression of interest (EOI) exercise. Marketing agent CBRE told The Business Times that the indicative pricing is between S$20 million and S$25 million. The EOI is slated to close on April 5.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jalan-kilang-light-industrial-property-for-sale-at-s20-25m

Airport Reit proposal sets analysts abuzz
Putting Singapore’s airport terminals into public hands could be a novel means of paying for new infrastructure, some analysts suggest. But others, while confident in Changi Airport’s lustre, are mixed on whether following Malaysia down the path to a Reit listing is the way to go.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/airport-reit-proposal-sets-analysts-abuzz

Singapore Economy

Tourism industry urged to break down silos
It is time to break down the silos in the tourism industry. In the face of rising business costs, labour scarcity, digital disruption and increasing competition for tourist dollars, individual sectors can no longer afford to go it alone.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tourism-industry-urged-to-break-down-silos

Parliament: Construction industry gets $295m to adopt new technology
Construction companies and government agencies will soon get a leg up in adopting new technology, with $295 million to be injected into two productivity schemes. The latest sum brings the BuildSG Transformation Fund to about $770 million in financial aid for the construction industry.
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/construction-industry-gets-295m-to-adopt-new-technology

Companies’ Brief

Keppel, SPH to compulsorily acquire all shares in M1 before delisting telco
Keppel Corporation and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will compulsorily acquire all the remaining shares they do not already own in telco M1 at the offer price of S$2.06 apiece, after which they will delist the company. As at 5pm on Wednesday, Keppel and SPH, through their joint venture firm Konnectivity, holds 92.2 per cent of all the shares in the company.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-sph-to-compulsorily-acquire-all-shares-in-m1-before-delisting-telco
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/keppel-sph-to-compulsorily-acquire-all-m1-shares

Chip Eng Seng unit to launch S$100m 6% notes due 2022
Chip Eng Seng’s wholly-owned subsidiary CES Treasury on Wednesday launched its S$100 million 6 per cent notes due 2022. The Series 004 notes guaranteed by Chip Eng Seng are part of its S$750 million multi-currency debt issuance programme, to be issued on March 15 2019 and mature on March 15 2022. The notes will be issued at a price of 100 per cent of their principal amount and in denominations of S$250,000, bearing interest at a fixed rate of 6 per cent per annum payable semi-annually in arrear.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chip-eng-seng-unit-to-launch-s100m-6-notes-due-2022

Moody’s reviews Frasers Centrepoint Trust’s rating for downgrade
Moody’s Investors Service has placed Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT)’s ‘Baa1’ issuer rating under review for downgrade. This comes after FCT announced that it had entered into 12 conditional sale-and-purchase agreements to acquire a 17.13 per cent stake in PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund for S$342.5 million. PGIM Fund owns and manages six retail malls in Singapore, one office property in Singapore and four retail malls in Malaysia.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/moodys-reviews-frasers-centrepoint-trusts-rating-for-downgrade

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Many ways for Oxley to exit its Chevron House investment
Since the start of this year, Oxley has unveiled a few divestments. On Jan 21, the group announced the sale of two offices blocks (Blocks 4 and 5) of its Dublin Landings project in Ireland for a total of 204 million euros (or S$315 million). This was followed by the announcement on Jan 28 of a proposed sale in parts of two residential blocks (Blocks B and E) in the same development for 175.5 million euros.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/many-ways-for-oxley-to-exit-its-chevron-house-investment

Far East’s Ng brothers top Forbes rich list here again
Singaporeans took 22 spots in Forbes’ latest list of the world’s richest, with real estate barons Robert and Philip Ng coming up tops among their countrymen for the 10th year running. The sons of the late tycoon Ng Teng Fong, who control Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private landlord and property developer, are joint 112th on the Forbes list, with a combined US$12 billion (S$16.3 billion) fortune, said the business magazine.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/far-easts-ng-brothers-top-forbes-rich-list-here-again