DWS-Hines tie-up buys Soilbuild industrial building for undisclosed sum

GERMAN asset management company DWS Group and Houston-based property investment firm Hines have announced their purchase of an industrial building through a joint venture between them, confirming an earlier exclusive report from The Business Times (BT).

While the value of the deal was not disclosed by the two companies, BT reported in a Jan 7 article that the property, Bukit Batok Connection, was understood to come with a S$93.8 million price tag. This works out to about S$248 per sq ft on the property's net lettable area of 377,776 square feet (sq ft).

In a joint statement issued Thursday (Jan 27), DWS and Hines said the 9-storey ramp-up industrial asset was acquired from the portfolio of Soilbuild Business Space Reit on behalf of DWS' instituitional, Asia-focused core real estate strategy.

It marks the third acquisition in Singapore for DWS and the first for Hines.

Christopher Kimm, head of real estate (the Asia-Pacific) at DWS, said he considers the acquisition "attractive", in view of the relative resilience of Asia-Pacific logistics, along with the property's strong Bukit Batok submarket location.

The asset also has potential to deliver stable income yields for DWS investors, in his view.

Highlighting industrial as a growing asset sector in the region, Hines' managing director and country head for Singapore, Lim Kian Fong, viewed the acquisition as a move to establish the company brand in Singapore.

"We look forward to broadening our portfolio in Singapore beyond logistics to also include multi-family, office and retail," added Lim.

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