The group currently holds a 50.1% interest in its student housing fund; GIC holds the remaining stake
WEE Hur Holdings has refuted a news report that said property investment firm Greystar is acquiring its purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) business in Australia.
In a bourse filing on Thursday (Oct 17), Wee Hur said “there have been no significant transactions” related to its PBSA business Down Under, contrary to an Oct 15 report in The Australian Financial Review.
The article also claimed that Wee Hur, which sold a 49.9 per cent stake in the project to GIC in April 2022 for A$567.9 million (S$573.6 million), is expected to retain a stake post-acquisition “as GIC hands over ownership to Greystar”.
The piece said the sovereign wealth fund has agreed to “sell its student accommodation business for a A$1.6 billion gross price”.
Wee Hur still holds a 50.1 per cent stake in the PBSA fund, which was first set up in December 2016. The portfolio now consists of over 5,600 beds across seven student housing properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.
The report was brought to the group’s attention on Oct 16. In response, Wee Hur said it is currently in early-stage confidential discussions with a third party involving its PBSA business in Australia, which “may or may not lead to a transaction”.
“There is no certainty whatsoever that these discussions will result in any definitive agreement or transaction materialising,” it added.
Goh Wee Ping, chief executive officer of Wee Hur Capital, the group’s fund management arm, had previously stated that PBSA and workers’ dormitory businesses were probably the two segments now holding the most value for the group.
Shares of Wee Hur were up S$0.02 or 4.9 per cent at S$0.43 as at 11.09 am on Friday.
