MAINBOARD-LISTED Metro Holdings on Wednesday (Oct 9) announced the acquisition of a freehold prime office property in Sydney, Australia, for A$196.4 million (S$172.3 million).
The 27-storey office building is located in the financial core of Sydney’s central business district, and was bought by Metro with its joint venture partner, Sim Lian Group of Companies.
Refurbished in 2021, the building spans a net lettable area (NLA) of 12,418 square metres (sq m), with an occupancy of 85 per cent as at September 2024, which is “well-supported by a diverse tenant mix”, said Metro in a bourse filing.
The property has a weighted average lease expiry by income of about three years.
The A$196.4 million price tag comprises mainly the purchase consideration of the property, related stamp duty, as well as other costs and expenses. Metro’s capital commitment for the investment is around A$30.8 million and will be funded primarily by internal cash sources and external borrowings, said the group.
The investment is not expected to have any significant effect on its consolidated net tangible assets per share, nor on its consolidated earnings per share for the current financial year ending Mar 31, 2025, it added.
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With the acquisition, Metro and Sim Lian now hold 18 freehold properties in Australia, including five office buildings and 13 retail centres.
The total appraised value of this portfolio of properties will be around A$1.4 billion, with a total NLA of 176,227 sq m spanning New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, Metro said.
The group’s chief executive officer and executive director Yip Hoong Mun said the latest acquisition will continue to benefit from flight-to-location and flight-to-quality trends witnessed in the office market.
The opportunistic acquisition strategically expands the group’s footprint in Australia and deepens its partnership with Sim Lian, he added.
Shares of Metro closed flat at S$0.475 on Wednesday, before the news.
