Perennial in deal to buy stake in London's Aviva Tower, valued at £330m

A DAY after Perennial Real Estate Holdings said it has raised its stake in the Chinatown Point mall in Singapore, the developer on Tuesday announced it has signed a call option agreement for the right to buy a 20 per cent stake in Aroland Holdings, which owns Aviva Tower in London.

The call option is based on an agreed property value of £330 million (S$583 million) for the 28-storey office building. The option price was derived based on the "as-is" market valuation of Aviva Tower of £323 million, without factoring in any potential redevelopment value.

Aviva Tower is located in the heart of London's financial district. The London planning authorities have granted approval for the building to be redeveloped into the tallest building in the City of London at a height of 304.94 metres.

The new landmark office development will stand at 73 storeys above ground with four basement levels. It will comprise over 130,000 square metres of gross floor area of Grade A office space and over 2,000 square metres of retail, and food and beverage space.

Designed by Eric Parry Architects and to be named "1 Undershaft", the building's total development cost (including land cost) is expected to be over £1 billion.

Aroland is held by a company owned by Kuok Khoon Hong, called HPRY Holdings, as well as Burlingham International and two other investors.

Mr Kuok is the chairman of the board of Perennial Real Estate and also Wilmar International's chairman and CEO, while Burlingham is a company wholly owned by Wilmar co-founder and deputy chairman Martua Sitorus and his family.