Oxley buys Chevron House, Vista Park, stake in Vietnam project in deals totalling over S$1b

DEC 15, 2017

WONG KAI YI


OXLEY Holdings, headed by Ching Chiat Kwong, continues its property buying spree. In a span of less than 24 hours from late Wednesday to Thursday evening, it announced three acquisitions totalling over S$1 billion.

These comprise Chevron House for S$660 million, the Vista Park collective sale site in South Buona Vista Road for S$418 million and a smaller deal in Vietnam.

The mainboard-listed group said it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Deka Singapore to buy Raffles Place office building Chevron House. The S$660 million price works out to about S$2,526 per sq ft on an existing net lettable floor area of 261,280 sq ft.

Chevron House is a 32-storey commercial development comprising a five-storey retail podium (basement 1 to level 4) and a 27-storey office tower (from levels 6 to 32).

Oxley intends to renovate the property, which sits on a land area of 29,891 sq ft.

The property was completed in 1993 and has a basement connection to the Raffles Place MRT Station next door. Chevron House is on a site with a 99-year leasehold tenure starting from Dec 7, 1989, leaving 71 years on the clock.

Earlier, The Business Times reported that anchor tenant Chevron, currently occupying around 83,000 sq ft over 10 office floors, is expected to move to Duo Tower in the Bugis area where it has signed up for about 73,000 sq ft.

The sale of Chevron House was brokered by CBRE and JLL.

Commenting on the sale, CBRE's executive director of capital markets Jeremy Lake said: "Investors continue to acknowledge the improving outlook for the Singapore office market, and the sale of Chevron House is the last of a few major office sales in 2017 including PWC Building at S$746.8 million, GSH Plaza at S$663.5 million, Asia Square Tower 2 at S$2.09 billion and 50 per cent of One George Street at S$591.6 million."

Oxley continues to expand its Singapore residential landbank; it has been awarded the collective sale of Vista Park at S$418 million, which works out to about S$1,096 per square foot per plot ratio, inclusive of an estimated S$72 million payable to the state to top up the site's lease to 99 years.

The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio and allowable height of up to five storeys.

Vista Park, at the edge of Kent Ridge Park and facing the sea, is on a 319,250 sq ft site with a balance lease of about 60 years.

Teakhwa Real Estate, which marketed Vista Park's collective sale, said the tender, which closed on Wednesday, was "hotly contested" with five close bids and a few expressions of interest. The transaction is subject to approval by the Strata Titles Board.

Separately, Oxley announced it has acquired, through its unit Oxley Vietnam, a stake in a residential project in Dong Nai province in Vietnam . It entered into an agreement to acquire Centra Cove, a Singapore property developer and investment holding company, for US$12 million in cash.

Centra Cove, owned 27/73 per cent respectively by Phuong Tuan Long and Teou Chun Tong Jason, holds 75 per cent of the licensed charter capital of Vietnamese company Phu Thinh Land (PT Land), of which 16.81 per cent of the charter capital has been paid up.

PT Land, under the aegis of the Dong Nai provincial government, is currently co-developing the project together with a Vietnamese state-owned construction company.

The consideration, which works out to around S$16.2 million, was arrived at through arm's length negotiations after Oxley's assessment of the project's potential value.

As at March 7, 2017, the consolidated net tangible asset value of Centra Cove and PT Land was around S$2.31 million.

The vendors were paid US$5.63 million prior to the purchase agreement on Dec 13, with the balance to be paid upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.