Frasers Property unit buys AsiaMalls Management

Singapore

FRASERS Property on Monday announced that Frasers Property Retail has agreed to acquire property manager AsiaMalls Management for an undisclosed sum.

AsiaMalls manages five malls in Singapore: Century Square, Hougang Mall, Tampines 1, Tiong Bahru Plaza and White Sands. It also manages a 20-storey office tower, Central Plaza, along Tiong Bahru Road.

The six properties are held by PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund (PGIM ARF), in which the Frasers Property group holds a collective 88 per cent stake.

On completion of the acquisition, AsiaMalls Management will become a subsidiary of Frasers Property Retail Management, and will continue to provide property management to PGIM ARF for these six properties.

"With the management of a wider network of suburban malls island-wide, we will unlock greater operational synergies that allow us to compete more effectively in this fast-evolving retail landscape," said Low Chee Wah, chief executive officer at Frasers Property Retail.

Frasers Property Retail is a retail-focused platform under Frasers Property Singapore, a strategic business unit of Frasers Property.

It oversees asset, property management of the group's retail assets in Singapore, and the management of Frasers Centrepoint Trust. This represents an asset size of S$8.6 billion as at Dec 31, 2019.

Frasers Property Retail's portfolio includes suburban retail malls such as Northpoint City, and Punggol's first waterfront development, Waterway Point.

Also on Monday morning, Frasers Property said its Australian division has set up its sustainable finance framework.

Frasers Property Australia's new framework defines an entire portfolio as sustainable assets using the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ratings. GRESB considers both environmental and social aspects of property portfolios, and attributes a five-star rating to entities with scores within the top 20 per cent and a four-star rating to those within the top 40 per cent.

The framework will provide overarching criteria and guidelines for Frasers Property Australia and its subsidiaries to enter into sustainable finance transactions. Funds raised can be used to finance a green portfolio with at least a four-star GRESB rating.

Frasers Property Australia may also potentially link commercial incentives with its sustainability targets.

The new framework can be used in conjunction with the A$2 billion (S$1.9 billion) multicurrency debt issuance programme that was just established last week by a subsidiary of Frasers Property Australia.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Barclays Bank and OCBC were the joint sustainability coordinators for the setting up of the framework.

In addition, Frasers Property Australia said it is aiming to achieve a five-star GRESB rating for its new developments and at least a four-star rating for its existing portfolio.

It also plans to be carbon neutral in development and operation by 2028.

Frasers Property shares rose S$0.02 or 1.2 per cent to close at S$1.67 on Monday, after the announcement.