J’Den Condo, a 40-storey residential and commercial tower with expected priced of S$2,000-2,100 psf, J’Den Condo will be connected to Jurong East MRT Station and other amenities. Exact details, including number and size of units, to be disclosed. Launch expected in second half of 2023.

CLAR has announced its divestment of Singapore industrial building KA Place for a consideration of $35.38 million. The sale and purchase agreement was entered into by the REIT’s trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) and KA Place SPV 1. At 219% premium of the purchase price at $11.1 million and 55% premium to the market valuation of the property at $22.8 million, the manager of CLAR has made a wise decision to optimize returns for unitholders.

KA Place is a seven-storey high-specification building with a carpark on the second storey occupying a total gross floor area of 10,163 sq m and a remaining land lease tenure of about 35 years. Proceeds of the sale, net of divestment costs, is expected to be $30.65 million and can be recycled to finance committed investments, repay existing debt, prolong loans to subsidiaries, fund corporate and working capital needs, and/or make distributions to unitholders.

Upon the sale, CLAR will have 229 properties comprising 96 properties in Singapore, 36 in Australia, 48 in the US, and 49 in the UK and Europe. Furthermore, with the net proceeds used to pay down the borrowings of the REIT, its aggregate leverage will also be reduced from 36.3% to 36.2%. The proposed divestment is subject to completion within 2Q2023, and the manager of CLAR is entitled to a divestment fee of 0.5% of the sale consideration of the property, which would be paid in cash.

Units in CapitaLand Ascendas REIT close at $2.88 on April 20, with a 1.05% increase. The proposed divestment thus presents a great opportunity to improve the quality of CLAR’s portfolio and to yield better returns for its unitholders. As such, it is not surprising to see an increase in CLAR’s unit price.