Could Paragon soon change hands?

WHEN a consortium wins a tough takeover battle to buy a bunch of property assets, the spoils of victory can be shared by selling the assets for a profit and returning cash to the consortium partners.

In 2022, investment vehicle Cuscaden Peak – owned by a consortium comprising Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) and Temasek’s Mapletree Investments and CLA Real Estate Holdings – acquired the then listed Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which was largely a property business after spinning off its media assets. SPH was renamed Cuscaden Peak Investments following its privatisation in May 2022, and is now wholly owned by Cuscaden Peak.

Cuscaden Peak also owns about 61 per cent of Paragon Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) –previously known as SPH Reit – which focuses on retail properties. Cuscaden Peak Investments and Paragon Reit have since been divesting properties, while remaining inactive on the acquisitions front. Perhaps, Paragon Reit will soon sell all its properties – including crown jewel Paragon – and be wound down. This can be positive for Cuscaden Peak and the trust’s unitholders.