Mapletree purchases HK mall for S$2.9b

Mapletree Investments Ltd (Mapletree) is venturing into its first commercial property in Hong Kong, with the acquisition of Festival Walk, a major regional retail mall in Kowloon Tong, for around HK$18.8 billion (S$2.9 billion).

Mapletree said it has entered into a sales-and-purchase agreement (SPA) with Swire Properties Ltd for the purchase of the retail mall, which also has an office component.

“This acquisition is a milestone as we have secured a good size and high quality asset in our first retail project in Hong Kong,” said Hiew Yoon Khong, Chief Executive Officer of Mapletree Group.

Completed in 1998, Festival Walk comprises a seven-storey shopping mall and a four-storey office block that has 220,000 sq ft of Grade A office lettable area. The mall, which has a retail lettable area of 580,000 sq ft, drew nearly 40 million shoppers last year.

Hiew noted that aside from being fully occupied with “good quality tenants”, the mall’s rental income has also “increased consistently year-on-year since inception, reflecting the quality of the mall.”

Mapletree said the mall will be acquired with other institutional investors as capital partners. It is also set to become a seed asset for Mapletree’s commercial property portfolio in Hong Kong, which it intends to develop under a HK-focussed fund over the next two to three years.

“Today, we are excited to expand our footprint in the dynamic Hong Kong market where we can further build our presence in the city. More importantly, this acquisition reinforces our strategy to scale up in key markets in Asia,” said Liew.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

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