First Sponsor to buy second office property in Amsterdam's CBD for 55.5m euros

MAINBOARD-LISTED First Sponsor Group has proposed to acquire a second office building in Amsterdam's central business district for 55.5 million euros (S$88.6 million) through the group's wholly owned subsidiary.

The proposed deal, entered to on Dec 22, is for the majority apartment rights of Meerparc, a mixed use office property in the Netherlands. The amount includes transaction costs.

"Meerparc is a five-storey strata-titled freehold property located in the South Axis, the main central business district of Amsterdam. The multi-tenanted property with a substantial office component is situated right next to the Zuiderhof I building, the group's first office property investment in the Netherlands acquired in early 2015 (as member of a consortium)," said First Sponsor in a filing with the bourse operator on Tuesday.

It added that similar to Zuiderhof I, which is fully let to a reputable law firm, the anchor tenant of Meerparc is DLA Piper Nederland BV which has a relatively long remaining lease.

Neo Teck Pheng, the group's CEO said that the expanded presence "will further enhance the recurrent income of the group".

He added that Meerparc's prime location and freehold tenure means that the property has good redevelopment potential.