Perennial-led consortium divests 70% stake in TripleOne Somerset

SINGAPORE (Jan 26): Perennial Somerset Investors (PSIPL), a consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Holdings (Perennial), has agreed to divest a 70% stake in TripleOne Somerset to Simply Swift Limited, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Shun Tak Holdings.

PSIPL is the sole owner of TripleOne Somerset, a 17-storey office-integrated landmark development located in Singapore’s Orchard Road precinct.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings (Perennial), which holds a 50.2% in TripleOne Somerset , through PSIPL, is divesting 20.2% of its stake for a pre-tax gain of S$34.3 million (RM107.4 million). Perennial will continue to retain 30% after the transaction.

The other six PSIPL shareholders which are divesting all their individual stakes are SingHaiyi Group (20%), Boustead Projects (5.5%), BreadTalk Group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Imagine Properties (5.3% stake), and Shun Fung Holdings, ROOI Holdings and Grandma’s Holdings (10% combined).

The consideration of the total 61% stake is S$305 million.

In a separate agreement, Shun Tak has also agreed to acquire a 9% stake in the property belonging to Unified Elite, another existing shareholder of PSIPL and a connected person of Shun Tak.

Perennial’s CEO Pua Seck Guan says the divestment of the group’s partial stake in TripleOne Somerset is in line with Perennial’s capital recycling strategy to extract value and maximise returns for shareholders.

“The retention of a 30% stake in TripleOne Somerset will provide Perennial with income stability and the opportunity to enjoy the upside from the strata sales and enhancement works. Overall, the partial monetisation will further strengthen Perennial’s financial position and puts us in good stead to pursue our integrated real estate and healthcare strategy,” he adds.

In a separate filing to the SGX, BreadTalk Group adds that aside from being in line with its capital management strategy, the divestment presents the company “an opportunity to realise its investment at the same time.

The group expects to record a gain of about S$9.3 million from the divestment before transaction costs, and intends to use the proceeds for working capital purposes.

Shares of Perennial and BreadTalk closed flat at 74 Singaporean cents and S$1.22 respectively on Wednesday. — theedgemarkets.com.sg