Frasers Centrepoint Trust to sell White Sands mall for S$467 million

SINGAPORE: Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) will divest White Sands mall from its retail portfolio for S$467 million (US$360 million), it said on Wednesday (Jul 1).

FCT added that the divestment, entered into an agreement with an "unrelated third party", is expected to be completed around Sep 30.

White Sands, located in Pasir Ris, is the smallest mall in FCT's portfolio and has "performed well" since acquisition, said Mr Richard Ng, chief executive officer of Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management, the manager of FCT.

White Sands has a total gross floor area of 240,371 sq ft and total net lettable area of 150,352 sq ft. FCT had acquired the mall in 2020.

The divestment is "part of our proactive portfolio management strategy to strengthen FCT’s portfolio resilience and to unlock value for unitholders", said Mr Ng.

It will also "enhance FCT’s financial position through the lowering of its aggregate leverage, and provide us with headroom to redeploy it into future growth opportunities", he added.

"We are focused on optimising FCT’s portfolio composition and shaping a portfolio aligned with FCT’s long-term growth strategy while delivering sustainable income and long-term value to our unitholders."

The sale was negotiated on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis after considering the independent valuation of the mall at S$431 million as at May 31, said FCT, adding that the divestment is at an 8.4 per cent premium to its independent valuation, with an estimated net gain of about S$32.4 million.

FCT expects the net proceeds from the sale to be about S$454.1 million. It will go towards repaying debt and reducing FCT's pro forma aggregate leverage from 40 per cent to 36.5 per cent.

After the divestment is completed, FCT's retail portfolio will comprise eight properties - Causeway Point, Century Square, Hougang Mall, NEX, Northpoint City, Tampines 1, Tiong Bahru Plaza and Waterway Point - with an aggregate net lettable area of approximately 2.84 million sq ft.