Sinar Mas Land Buys London Office Building
UNITED KINGDOM – SML Strand, a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Sinar Mas Land, has inked a sale and purchase agreement to acquire an office building in central London from Land Securities Group for £195 million (US$240 million), reported Forbes on Tuesday morning (17 May, SGT).
Known as 32-50 Strand, the 9-storey office property is strategically situated in a prime location adjacent to Charing Cross Station and is just a stroll away from Trafalgar Square. The commercial property measures 139,000 sq ft and comes with a basement, according to Singapore Exchange (SGX) filings.
“The acquisition will further strengthen the Group’s recurring income with the addition of a prime asset with strong cash flows,” commented Robin Ng Cheng Jiet, Director of Sinar Mas Land.
Sinar Mas Land intends to tap a combination of its own cash and borrowings to fund the office purchase, which is expected to be completed in late-June 2022.
Previously, the group divested one of its properties in London, 10 Great Pulteney Street, for US$99.3 million to online fashion retailer Boohoo in 2021. Sinar Mas Land still owns another property near London, the Alphabeta building, which was bought for £280 million. The group also owns properties in several countries, including Australia, Malaysia, and China.
Notably, Sinar Mas Land is controlled by Indonesia’s second wealthiest family, the Widjajas. The family has a net worth of US$9.7 billion and ranked number two on the list of Indonesia’s 50 Richest List that was published in December 2021.
The group’s chairman Mukhtar Widjaja is a son of the late Eka Tjipta Widjaja, who founded Sinar Mas Group. Mukhtar’s son Michael is the Chief Executive of the group, which is one of biggest business groups in Indonesia with interests in food, tech, paper, energy, mining, property, healthcare, agribusiness, communications, and financial services.
