Allianz Real Estate, the property arm of the German insurer, has agreed to buy a 20% interest in the Ocean Financial Centre office building in Singapore from listed firm Keppel REIT for S$537.3m (US$392.2m).
The deal is part of Allianz’s strategy to increase its real estate exposure to as much as 10% in the Asia-Pacific region and follows on from its recent investments into logistics platforms in India and China.
The 43-storey building has 81,534 sq.m. of lettable space and is located at the intersection of the Raffles Place and Marina Bay financial precincts, according to a statement from Allianz.
“The Singapore office market is experiencing strong rental growth,” said Rushabh Desai, CEO Asia-Pacific at Allianz RE.
“From an occupational cost and efficiency perspective, it continues to be favourable vis-a-vis other comparable markets like Hong Kong.”
Built in 2011, the property features floor plates ranging between 20,000 sq.m. and 25,000 sq.m and has a 95.5% occupancy rate.
Keppel REIT owns 99.9% of the 99-year leasehold in the building. The deal is scheduled to close by the end of the year.
“Ocean Financial Centre is a sterling office development that is strategically positioned to capture value from the strengthening Singapore office market,” said Keppel REIT Management CEO Tan Swee Yiow.
The transaction builds on Allianz RE’s recently announced plans to create a US$1bn logistics platform with ESR in India and its acquisition of a 50% stake in a Chinese logistics portfolio last month.
Allianz RE has €60bn (US$68.4bn) of real estate assets under management.