IPC to sink 3b yen into Japan property

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IPC Corporation has set aside another three billion yen (S$45.7 million) to
buy new apartments and condominiums in Japan in a bid to grow its nascent
property division.

The war chest relates to an agreement signed
yesterday between IPC and real estate firms Japan Cerca and Ibex Co.

Under the pact, the Japanese firms will identify and evaluate new, unsold
apartments and condos from third-party developers that can be bought and
re-sold.

IPC will invest up to three billion yen to fund the purchases,
while Japan Cerca and Ibex will be responsible for selling them under the
year-long collaboration.

The acquisitions will be funded from 'internal
sources', IPC said in a regulatory filing yesterday.

The flagship
purchase under the tie-up is an apartment project in Tsukuba, a city about 50km
northeast of Tokyo.

Fifty-one residential units have been bought for
about 520 million yen and the sale of these properties will start next
month.

IPC said the $8 million used to buy the apartment project was
derived from the $14.73 million it netted last year from the sale of its 74.8
per cent stake in Thinsoft Holdings.

The Tsukuba venture will have an
impact in the current financial year, IPC added.

In February, IPC
entered into a similar tie-up with another company - Sun City Resale Co - to
purchase and re-sell Japanese residential properties.

IPC allocated 500
million yen for this tie-up and has an option to invest further to fund more
purchases.

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