KUALA LUMPUR: Amcorp Properties Bhd (AmProp), the property arm of Amcorp Group Bhd, entered into a subscription and shareholders’ agreement (SSA) on March 27 with Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd and two other parties for the acquisition of two London properties for £308 million (RM1.68 billion).
The property player said in an announcement on Saturday that the parties would undertake a mixed-use redevelopment on the properties.
Trading in shares of AmProp (fundamental: 2.40; valuation: 2.40) was suspended from 9am till 10am yesterday. Its counter climbed 5.13% to close at 82 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM485.73 million.
To recap, AmProp said in a statement dated March 28 that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, SNL Ltd, had inked the SSA with Hubbard Investments Pte Ltd, HPL (Southbank) Pte Ltd and Clan Bankside Quarter (Jersey) Ltd.
Hubbard Investments is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, while HPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hotel Properties Ltd.
Clan Bankside Quarter (Jersey) Ltd is jointly controlled by Montrose Land & Development Ltd and Tarras Park Properties Ltd, which is in turn a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buccleuch Estates Ltd.
The four parties involved in the acquisition and redevelopment of the two properties set up a joint venture (JV) company named Bankside Quarter (Jersey) Ltd on Oct 27, 2014. SNL, Hubbard and HPL would hold a 30% equity interest each in Bankside, while Clan Bankside would hold the remaining 10% shares.
In conjunction with the entry into the SSA, Bankside on March 27 signed an agreement for the sale and purchase with Cerep UK City Office Ltd to acquire the entire equity interest in Cerep Sampson House Ltd and Cerep Ludgate House Ltd for £308 million cash.
Cerep Ludgate and Cerep Sampson respectively own the freehold interests in the properties known as Ludgate House and Sampson House.
“The property is located in London’s Bankside, adjacent to the River Thames and equidistant from London Bridge and Waterloo station,” it said.
The estimated total gross development value of the proposed redevelopment of the property is expected to exceed £1 billion.
“All finance up to £133.33 million is to be provided by the JV parties by way of equity funding for ordinary shares of £1 each in the capital of JV Co and funding beyond this will be in the form of shareholder loans,” AmProp explained.
However, if Bankside requires further funding, it can be sought from each of the JV parties.
In a statement yesterday, AmProp said the property is a 5.3-acre (2.14ha) site on the South Bank along the River Thames and is located within proximity of the Blackfriars Station and Tate Modern.
“The site has been identified as an ‘opportunity area’ in the Mayor of London’s London Plan and was granted planning permission in March 2014,” it added.
AmProp said the JV is part of a strategic move by the group to expand its property portfolio in central London.
“We are confident that the project spurred on by favourable planning policies will be well received by the market,” said its managing director Ben Lee.
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 31, 2015.