Rowsley in proposed JV to build Myanmar project worth US$550m

ROWSLEY Ltd, a real estate and investment firm part-owned by billionaire Peter Lim, has entered into an agreement with Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAGL) to jointly develop a mixed-use development in Yangon, Myanmar.

Under a heads of terms agreement signed on Thursday, Rowsley will invest US$275 million for a 50 per cent stake in a company that wholly owns HAGL Myanmar Centre.

The entire project is valued at US$550 million, Rowsley said on Thursday. The detailed terms and conditions for the joint venture are to be agreed in due course and subject to due diligence and all requisite regulatory approvals.

HAGL will make further investments and will undertake the construction of the entire project, Rowsley added.

Spread over more than 73,000 sq m of land in a prime neighbourhood next to Inya Lake in Yangon, HAGL Myanmar Centre has a land lease term of 50 years plus an option for another 10 plus 10 years. It will have a total net gross floor area of almost 640,000 sq m when fully completed in 2018.

The first phase of the development includes two office tower blocks with a net lettable area of about 81,000 sq m, a retail mall of about 39,000 sq m and a 400-room five-star hotel. Construction of the first phase started about two years ago and is expected to be completed by end-2015.

The second phase, comprising another two office blocks with net lettable area of about 94,000 sq m and more than 1,000 service and residential apartment units, is expected to start in early 2016.

The investment will be Rowsley's first real estate deal after its Iskandar development project.