Singapore’s Mercatus Selling Stake In Sydney Office Tower
AUSTRALIA – Mercatus Co-operative, the real estate division of Singapore-based insurance firm NTUC Enterprise Co-operative, is planning to divest its 33.3 percent stake in a Sydney office building that it purchased just 14 months ago, reported Mingtiandi on Monday evening (12 September, SGT)
Citing a report from The Australian last week, Mercatus Co-operative is said to have appointed JP Morgan to market its one-third stake in 1 Bligh Street, a commercial property located within the central business district (CBD) of Sydney.
Currently, no target price for the office tower has been revealed, and the marketing efforts comes after Mercatus Co-operative sold the 16 Collyer Quay office building in Singapore for about S$1 billion (US$717.2 million) two months ago.
Notably, the 1 Bligh Street office building was valued at A$1.14 billion (US$790 million) as of the end of 2021.
Moreover, the transaction marked the company’s maiden venture outside of Singapore. Mercatus Co-operative’s investment in the 2011-vintage building was made via a 90:10 joint venture with Australian fund manager Dexus with the partnership committing to pay A$375 million to buy the one-third stake in the office tower from Cbus Property, with the transaction concluding in July 2021.
Dexus, which jointly developed the 462,848 sq ft project with Cbus, directly holds another 33.3 percent interest in the asset, with the remaining stake owned by Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, a private fund overseen by the Aussie-listed company.
According to Mercatus’ 2021 annual report, the property was 96 percent occupied during the 2nd half of last year and it generated A$28.8 million in overall revenue during the said 6-month period.
A representative from Mercatus refused to comment on the marketing efforts, but added that the company still owns a 7.6 percent stake in Brookfield Place, a 27-storey office building close to 1 Bligh Street. The firm invested A$79 million in Brookfield Place.
