Frasers Centrepoint Trust to buy rest of Northpoint City for S$1.17 billion

[SINGAPORE] The manager of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) on Tuesday (Mar 25) announced that it has entered into unit purchase agreements with FCL Amber and Bright Bloom Capital to acquire the South Wing of Northpoint City for S$1.17 billion.

This will be done through the acquisition of all the units in North Gem Trust (NG Trust), which is a private trust that holds the interests in the South Wing of Northpoint City.

FCL Amber and Bright Bloom each hold 50 per cent of the total number of issued units in NG Trust.

FCL Amber is a wholly owned subsidiary of Frasers Property while Bright Bloom is a wholly owned subsidiary of TCC Prosperity. TCC Prosperity is a company wholly owned by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi and the estate of the late Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi in equal shares.

Following the acquisition, FCT will have full ownership of Northpoint City, said Richard Ng, chief executive of the manager of the trust.

“With full control, FCT will be able to implement holistic asset enhancement initiatives and tenant mix strategies to unlock further value across both wings,” he noted. FCT acquired the North Wing in 2006.

He added: “The acquisition consolidates FCT’s position as Singapore’s leading prime suburban retail space owner and enables FCT to deliver regular and stable distributions to its unitholders.”

The acquisition cost of S$1.17 billion comprises S$375.2 million for the acquisition price, about S$785 million of bank loans owed by NG Trust, about S$11.3 million in acquisition fees payable to the manager, as well as other acquisition-related fees and expenses of about S$1.4 million.

The manager intends to finance the acquisition by utilising the net proceeds raised from the issuance of new equity via an equity fund raising launched on Tuesday.

This includes a private placement offering to raise gross proceeds of no less than about S$200 million, along with a preferential offering. The manager also intends to raise proceeds through debt financing and potentially issuing subordinated perpetual securities of no more than about S$200 million.

The provisional allotment under the preferential offering, comprising about S$200 million, has been granted to the wholly owned subsidiaries of sponsor Frasers Property – Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management and Frasers Property Retail Trust Holdings – which will collectively hold about 39.77 per cent of total units in issue.

The proposed acquisition is subject to approval by unitholders of FCT at an extraordinary general meeting to be convened by the trust at a later date to be determined by the manager.

Consisting of both the North and South wings, Northpoint City is part of an integrated development also comprising the condominium North Park Residences, which is situated above the retail podium.

FCT noted that new homes, especially in the north, north-east and east, are expected to expand the shopper catchment population of FCT’s malls in those regions and boost higher shopper traffic, while higher household incomes should support retail spending growth.

In its latest earnings release for its second half ended September 2024, FCT posted a distribution per unit of S$0.0602, unchanged from the year prior. The trust posted a committed occupancy of 99.5 per cent for its retail portfolio in its first quarter of its financial year ending Sep 30, 2025.

Units of FCT closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$2.21 on Monday.