Thursday, October 27, 2011

Offshore fund acquires 50% stake in Robinson Land

AN offshore fund controlled by a few high net worth individuals has acquired a 50 per cent stake in a company whose sole asset is the 12-storey freehold Finexis Building (formerly known as GMG Building) at Robinson Road.

The transaction was based on the office block's latest valuation of $110 million in July 2011. This works out to about $2,043 per square foot on its total strata area of 53,830 sq ft, which is understood to be close to the building's net lettable area. The share purchase agreement was signed early last week.

The half stake in Robinson Land Pte Ltd was sold by a partnership that includes private real estate investor and ex-Goldman Sachs banker Kishore Buxani and offshore investors advised by Mukesh Valabhji of Seychelles-based Capital Management Group.
They will continue to hold the remaining 50 per cent in Robinson Land Pte Ltd.

The company acquired the office block, located at 108 Robinson Road, in late 2006 for $48 million and is said to have invested a further sum of about $6 million sprucing it up.

Finexis Building is more than 82 per cent let, with anchor tenant Finexis Advisory occupying five floors. Other tenants include Cliftons and BoxHill Institute, both from Australia, and Melior International College, which has a tie-up with Australia's CQ University.

Finexis Building does not currently have any immediate redevelopment potential. Its current gross floor area of 64,766 sq ft is 11.67 times the land area of 5,549 sq ft - exceeding the 11.2 maximum plot ratio for the site under Master Plan 2008.

The latest rental transaction in the office block was done at $7 psf a month, but the current average monthly passing rental (that is, what is being paid by existing tenants) in the building is lower, at about $5.60 psf.

Assuming the building is fully let at this rate, the net yield based on the $110 million valuation works out to around 2.9 per cent. The building is said to have been completed in the 1980s.

Source: Business Times – 27 October 2011

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