Chip Eng Seng's Australia unit to sell freehold office building for A$69m

CHIP Eng Seng Corporation said on Friday its wholly owned subsidiary in Australia, CES Properties (Aus) Pty Ltd, has entered into an agreement to sell a tenanted freehold office building for A$68.8 million (S$73.7 million).

The property, located in Melbourne, sits on a land area of 2,286 square metres and has a total net lettable area of 10,459 square metres and 134 parking lots. The legal date of completion for the sale is Aug 31, 2017.

In a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing, the company said the price of the property was arrived after arms' length negotiations between CES Properties and the purchaser and, on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis, and took into account various commercial factors including the location of the property, the investment yield and the recent transacted prices for the properties in the vicinity.

The transaction is expected to contribute positively to the group's consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017, the company added.

The counter closed at S$0.72, down 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.69 per cent, on Friday.