Keppel Land China to jointly develop residential site in Jiangsu

KEPPEL Land China, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Land, is to jointly develop a residential site in Taicang City, following the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake for 498 million yuan (S$99.5 million) in the company that owns the site.

The remaining stake will be held by Shanghai Shengji Industrial, a subsidiary of a leading developer in China, CIFI Holdings (Group), according to a media statement by Keppel Corporation.

Keppel Land is the property arm of mainboard-listed Keppel Corp.

The site has a gross floor area of 117,052 square metres, and can yield 1,072 high-rise residential units. Phase 1 is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2020, and development of the entire project is slated for completion in 2021. The total development cost for the project is expected to be over 2.4 billion yuan.

The site is located in the High-Tech Industrial Development Area of Taicang City, a provincial-level economic development zone. The  Shanghai-Nantong High-Speed Rail, operational in the second half of 2020, will integrate Taicang City into the Yangtze River Delta high-speed rail network and greatly improve the connectivity between Taicang City and Shanghai. 

Keppel Land China president Ben Lee said the joint venture marks the company's further expansion in the Yangtze River Delta region. "We are confident that our residential development in Taicang City's New District will meet the rising aspirations and needs of home buyers in the greater-Shanghai area."

Keppel Corp commented that the transaction is not expected to have any material impact on its net tangible assets per share or earnings per share for the current financial year.

The counter traded eight Singapore cents or 1.25 per cent down to S$6.31 on Thursday, before the media statement was released.