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GIC sells BOA Financial Centre in London


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Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has sold its entire stake in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Centre in London for £582.5 million (S$1.2 billion).



Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, is the buyer of the prime freehold property in London's financial district, said GIC in a statement yesterday.



The move follows GIC's full acquisition of the RomaEst Shopping Centre - in which it already had a 50 per cent interest - in Italy on Monday.



GIC bought the 585,000 sq ft London office property from Merrill Lynch in 2007 for £480 million, beating investors such as Syrian-born tycoon Simon Halabi and Irish investor Derek Quinlan.



Norges Bank said in a statement that the acquisition was not financed by debt.



Bank of America Merrill Lynch will continue to manage the property, under the lease agreement.



The financial centre has a net lettable area of about 550,000 sq ft.



It comprises four buildings on a 1.3ha site, and was first purpose-built by the American bank as its flagship headquarters in London. The complex is also near the historic St Paul's Cathedral.



GIC has been on a shopping spree in Europe of late.



It bought a stake in RAC, Britain's second-largest roadside assistance firm, from Washington-based private equity firm Carlyle Group two weeks ago.



GIC also agreed to buy 30 per cent of Spanish real estate firm Gmp for more than €200 million (S$323 million) last week.


Earlier reports had noted that GIC may be part of a group of investors in talks to buy airports in Aberdeen and Glasgow in Scotland as well as in Southampton in southern England for £1 billion.




Quick calculation on the returns from purchasing Bank of America Financial Centre:


Purchase $480 million (sterlings) in 2007 = SGD $1,440 million (07 sterling to SGD is 3 ish to 1 give and take lah)


Sold $582.5million (sterlings) in 2014 = SGD $1,194 million (current rate is 2.05 ish give and that lah)


Lost = SGD$246 million just in foreign exchange fluctuation


Assumption: No debt financing, related fees not taken into account, rental not taken into account


Somebody please tell me I'm wrong but the numbers are what it is right?


Edited by Porker
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more of such underwater cases in the US... ask ard ure G!C frens if they are able to reveal lolz...

 

most famous is stuyvesant town... there are others...................

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more of such underwater cases in the US... ask ard ure G!C frens if they are able to reveal lolz...

 

most famous is stuyvesant town... there are others...................

 

Eh that one in Manhattan quite a few years back liao leh.

 

Come please share juicy bits LOL

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Eh that one in Manhattan quite a few years back liao leh.

 

Come please share juicy bits LOL

 

solli i cuunt... pls google if u can lolz

Edited by Duckduck
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if talking jus the capital items, besides the tax n duties paid at purchase, it has to b the rebuilding or any major AA works.

 

but in any case, its quite easy to see its another loss again haizz


no worry ... COE $2B revenue can covers ...

so the PEOPLE foot the bills again haizzz

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Thats why i wonder they should sell at the price 2x they bought in 2007. Or else no profit given current exchange rate.

 

Nvr mind la GIC got the backing from CPF and LTA, nothing in this world they cant buy

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no worry ... COE $2B revenue can covers ...

 

instead of willing to pay for such "mistakes"..perhaps most of us should question why "the investments were deliberately sold at a loss"

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instead of willing to pay for such "mistakes"..perhaps most of us should question why "the investments were deliberately sold at a loss"

 

I was actually thinking that same question when I read this article...is GIC planning something big that this loss can be substantiated?

 

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I was actually thinking that same question when I read this article...is GIC planning something big that this loss can be substantiated?

 

 

maybe its gona buy sportshub aka beach soccer stadium

 

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But they also bought another building in Italy? They need not have realised the exchange loss but re-invested in pounds/euro within eurozone.

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Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has sold its entire stake in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Centre in London for £582.5 million (S$1.2 billion).

Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, is the buyer of the prime freehold property in London's financial district, said GIC in a statement yesterday.

The move follows GIC's full acquisition of the RomaEst Shopping Centre - in which it already had a 50 per cent interest - in Italy on Monday.

GIC bought the 585,000 sq ft London office property from Merrill Lynch in 2007 for £480 million, beating investors such as Syrian-born tycoon Simon Halabi and Irish investor Derek Quinlan.

Norges Bank said in a statement that the acquisition was not financed by debt.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch will continue to manage the property, under the lease agreement.

The financial centre has a net lettable area of about 550,000 sq ft.

It comprises four buildings on a 1.3ha site, and was first purpose-built by the American bank as its flagship headquarters in London. The complex is also near the historic St Paul's Cathedral.

GIC has been on a shopping spree in Europe of late.

It bought a stake in RAC, Britain's second-largest roadside assistance firm, from Washington-based private equity firm Carlyle Group two weeks ago.

GIC also agreed to buy 30 per cent of Spanish real estate firm Gmp for more than €200 million (S$323 million) last week.

Earlier reports had noted that GIC may be part of a group of investors in talks to buy airports in Aberdeen and Glasgow in Scotland as well as in Southampton in southern England for £1 billion.

Quick calculation on the returns from purchasing Bank of America Financial Centre:

Purchase $480 million (sterlings) in 2007 = SGD $1,440 million (07 sterling to SGD is 3 ish to 1 give and take lah)

Sold $582.5million (sterlings) in 2014 = SGD $1,194 million (current rate is 2.05 ish give and that lah)

Lost = SGD$246 million just in foreign exchange fluctuation

Assumption: No debt financing, related fees not taken into account, rental not taken into account

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong but the numbers are what it is right?

 

 

to be fair, you should also include the yield from the assets to calculate the return or loss.

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Quick calculation on the returns from purchasing Bank of America Financial Centre:

Purchase $480 million (sterlings) in 2007 = SGD $1,440 million (07 sterling to SGD is 3 ish to 1 give and take lah)

Sold $582.5million (sterlings) in 2014 = SGD $1,194 million (current rate is 2.05 ish give and that lah)

Lost = SGD$246 million just in foreign exchange fluctuation

Assumption: No debt financing, related fees not taken into account, rental not taken into account

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong but the numbers are what it is right?

 

 

about there

 

can roughly assume rental to cover all fees (including to themselves) and interest

 

However, I would assume that they would recycle the proceeds for other UK projects instead of recognizing the loss due to exchange rate??

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about there

 

can roughly assume rental to cover all fees (including to themselves) and interest

 

However, I would assume that they would recycle the proceeds for other UK projects instead of recognizing the loss due to exchange rate??

 

Yes definitely looks that way because they purchased another 50% of the Italian shopping mall. That's banking on it making money when they sell lah. If not then kena twice lor

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(edited)

 

about there

 

can roughly assume rental to cover all fees (including to themselves) and interest

 

However, I would assume that they would recycle the proceeds for other UK projects instead of recognizing the loss due to exchange rate??

 

Double post

Edited by Porker
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