SINGAPORE (May 4): ARA Asset Management, the Singapore manager of REITs, is said to be eyeing the purchase of 320 Pitt Street, a major tower located in Sydney’s central business district which is being sold by a fund managed by Propertylink Group.

According to an article published online today by The Australian, the tower could sell for about A$275 million (S$284.8 million) as it is “primed for an overhaul” due to the strong leasing market – and its sale is believed to have entered due diligence.

320 Pitt Street has been on the market since March, and is held in Propertylink Office Partnership No 2 as part of a A$303 million portfolio which Propertylink picked up from businessman Sam Zell’s Equity Commonwealth in 2015.

Its sale comes as part of Propertylink’s strategy to capitalise on the surge in Sydney towers as well as unsolicited approaches for the asset, says The Australian.

ARA was privatised this year for S$1.78 billion by a consortium of investors that includes the company’s largest shareholders China’s Avic Trust and Warburg Pincus, an American private equity firm, as well as Cheung Kong Property and The Straits Trading Company.

The group also holds a substantial stake in Suntec REIT, through which it bought a 50% interest in Melbourne’s Southgate Complex last year.