DBS Group Nearing $412 Million Sale Leaseback of Singapore Headquarters

Forbes / AFX News Limited - November 8, 2005

DBS Group is near to completing the sale of its headquarters here, the DBS Building, the Business Times reported, citing unidentified sources. The newspaper said that the price is believed to be slightly over 700 mln sgd ($412 Million) and that the buyer could be a Goldman Sachs real estate fund.

The property has been eyed by several investors in recent months, but the offer by the Goldman Sachs fund is said to be the highest so far. Market watchers expect the bank, which occupies all of the DBS Building Tower One and almost half of Tower Two, to lease back the property for at least five years, the Business Times said.

The report said property analysts expect a net yield for the buyer of about 4 pct on the acquisition of the DBS Building Towers One and Two, based on the Goldman Sachs fund's proposed price. A price of, say, 708 mln sgd would work out to about 830 sgd ($488) per square foot for the property's total lettable floor area of about 852,000 square feet.

The newspaper said there is also talk that DBS may be looking to sell the PWC Building here, in which it has a 70 pct stake, to Goldman Sachs. The property is valued at about 500 mln sgd ($294 Million), or about 1,400 sgd per ($823) square foot of net lettable area. (1 usd = 1.70 sgd) Sphere: Related Content