Company takes over 9 Tai Seng Drive from another division of real estate investor
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (CLAR) has acquired a data center in Singapore from another division of the Singaporean investment fund.
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT Management Limited, as the manager of CLAR, this week announced the proposed acquisitions of 9 Tai Seng Drive and 5 Science Park Drive for a combined S$700.2 million (US$543.4m).
The data center has been acquired from another division of CapitaLand in a deal valued at S$463.6 million (US$359.8m), and funded through a combination of net proceeds from an equity fund raising and debt financing.
The six-story 9 Tai Seng Drive is a Tier III colocation data center, while 5 Science Park Drive is described as a “premium” office space. Set on 87,500 sq ft (8.130 sqm), the carrier-neutral data center totals 218,905 sq ft (20,305 sqm).
William Tay, executive director and CEO of the manager, said: “The acquisitions of 9 Tai Seng Drive and 5 Science Park Drive further anchor CLAR in Singapore, which stands as the cornerstone of CLAR’s multi-asset portfolio in matured, developed markets. These strategic additions will increase the share of Singapore in CLAR’s portfolio to approximately 67 percent of total assets under management.”
Tay added that the two properties are 100 percent leased to “reputable and well-established end users and tenants in the digital, e-commerce and financial services industries.”
“Both properties are expected to contribute positively to long-term returns with the potential for organic growth through rental uplifts and asset enhancement opportunities,” he said.
Formerly known as Geo-Tele Centre, 9 Tai Seng Drive has long operated as a data center. Previously owned by Sabana Reit, it at one point had Savvis Singapore as its anchor tenant, which ran it as “SG8." (Savvis was acquired by CenturyLink in 2011 for US$2.5 billion). Sabana sold the building to Ascendas-Singbridge for SG$99.6 million in cash in 2018. CapitalLand acquired Ascendas-Singbridge the following year.
CapitaLand said the company has been granted a 30-year lease extension on the site, now running to the end of May 2055. The site is fully leased.
HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited, in its capacity as trustee of CLAR, has entered into a conditional unit purchase agreement with Perpetual (Asia) Limited (in its capacity as trustee of CapitaLand Data Centre Trust) to acquire 100 percent of the issued units in CLDCSG Trust, which holds the property located at 9 Tai Seng Drive.
CLAR owns two data centers nearby to the newly acquired facility: The Kim Chuan Telecommunications Complex and 38A Kim Chuan Road. All three are within the Tai Seng Industrial Estate. The company also owns the Telepark data center at 5 Tampines Central 6.
CapitaLand Group Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean headquartered company focusing on the investment, development, and management of real estate, ultimately owned by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.
CLAR was Singapore’s first and largest listed business space and industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT); it was listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited in November 2002. Today, it owns more than 229 properties; as well as facilities in Singapore, it owns around a dozen data centers across Europe.
CLAR recently sold a warehouse and office in Singapore to GDS, which aims to redevelop the site into a data center.
CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) recently said it has added 23 data centers across nine countries to its portfolio since 2021. CapitaLand Group has 27 data centers across Asia and Europe with about 800MW of power. The group has facilities in development and operation across Singapore, South Korea, India, China, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
