Qatar buys Singapore tower in largest-ever deal in Asia-Pacific
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority agreed to buy Asia Square Tower 1 in Singapore for $2.5 billion from US investment firm BlackRock Inc. in the biggest single-tower property deal ever in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
The 43-story tower, located in the city-state’s financial district overlooking Marina Bay, has over 116,000 square meters of net lettable office space. Its anchor tenant is Citigroup which uses the tower as its Asia-Pacific and Singapore headquarters. Other notable tenants are Julius Baer, Swiss National Bank, Bank Sarasin, KKR & Co, Lloyd’s of London, Google Asia-Pacific, Fidelity, Sinochem and Regus.
The building, at 8 Marina View, has been on the market since last year after bids by a consortium of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and CapitaLand Ltd., Singapore’s largest developer, and rival bids by ARA Asset Management Ltd. failed to settle the deal.
BlackRock, however, had to go for a lower price than it had originally anticipated for the tower as rents in the city state decline amid slowing economic growth and increased supply. BlackRock said last year that it could get $3 billion for Asia Square Tower 1 and may also sell Asia Square Tower 2 which it estimated to be worth $2.2 billion. Both towers are 90-per cent occupied and vacancies in the area are below 4 per cent, John Saunders, head of Asia-Pacific for BlackRock Real Estate, said.
Qatar Investment Authority announced that it will add Asia Square Tower 1 to its real estate portfolio that also includes four Los Angeles office buildings acquired earlier this year and office property in Manhattan and London, as well as luxury hotels. Overall, the fund is invested with about $38 billion in property around the world, with $21.7 billion in office real estate and $7.5 billion in hotels.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority agreed to buy Asia Square Tower 1 in Singapore for $2.5 billion from US investment firm BlackRock Inc. in the biggest single-tower property deal ever in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The 43-story tower, located in the city-state's financial district overlooking Marina Bay, has over 116,000 square meters of net lettable office space. Its anchor tenant is Citigroup which uses the tower as its Asia-Pacific and Singapore headquarters. Other notable tenants are Julius Baer, Swiss National Bank, Bank Sarasin, KKR & Co, Lloyd's of London, Google Asia-Pacific, Fidelity, Sinochem and Regus. The building, at 8...
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority agreed to buy Asia Square Tower 1 in Singapore for $2.5 billion from US investment firm BlackRock Inc. in the biggest single-tower property deal ever in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
The 43-story tower, located in the city-state’s financial district overlooking Marina Bay, has over 116,000 square meters of net lettable office space. Its anchor tenant is Citigroup which uses the tower as its Asia-Pacific and Singapore headquarters. Other notable tenants are Julius Baer, Swiss National Bank, Bank Sarasin, KKR & Co, Lloyd’s of London, Google Asia-Pacific, Fidelity, Sinochem and Regus.
The building, at 8 Marina View, has been on the market since last year after bids by a consortium of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and CapitaLand Ltd., Singapore’s largest developer, and rival bids by ARA Asset Management Ltd. failed to settle the deal.
BlackRock, however, had to go for a lower price than it had originally anticipated for the tower as rents in the city state decline amid slowing economic growth and increased supply. BlackRock said last year that it could get $3 billion for Asia Square Tower 1 and may also sell Asia Square Tower 2 which it estimated to be worth $2.2 billion. Both towers are 90-per cent occupied and vacancies in the area are below 4 per cent, John Saunders, head of Asia-Pacific for BlackRock Real Estate, said.
Qatar Investment Authority announced that it will add Asia Square Tower 1 to its real estate portfolio that also includes four Los Angeles office buildings acquired earlier this year and office property in Manhattan and London, as well as luxury hotels. Overall, the fund is invested with about $38 billion in property around the world, with $21.7 billion in office real estate and $7.5 billion in hotels.
