# IOI Properties and CapitaLand Investment closer to acquiring One Raffles Place in joint bid - **Source:** The Business Times - **Published:** 2026-10-07T10:42:05.000Z - **Author:** Jeanne Mah - **Original:** https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/ioi-properties-and-capitaland-investment-closer-acquiring-one-raffles-place-joint-bid - **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial, Transactions & Deals, Investment & Capital Markets ## Featured rationale The bid signals confidence in Singapore’s prime CBD office and retail market, potentially supporting asset values amid tight office supply and rising rents. ## AI summary IOI Properties and CapitaLand Investment entered exclusive due diligence for a 50-50 acquisition of One Raffles Place, indicatively priced at S$2.3 billion to S$2.4 billion. ## Original article [SINGAPORE] IOI Properties Group and CapitaLand Investment (CLI) are now in exclusive due diligence for the acquisition of One Raffles Place, with a 50-50 joint bid submitted to owners OUE Reit and UOB. Speaking to The Business Times in Singapore on the sidelines of the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Wednesday (Oct 7), Malaysia’s IOI Properties Group CEO Lee Yeow Seng said the offer was made about three months ago. Previous reports had put the indicative pricing for the prime Central Business District (CBD) property in the S$2.3 billion to S$2.4 billion range. “Right now we have entered into exclusivity, and we are starting to do due diligence, and we are in the midst of discussing the final terms on the sales and purchase agreement,” Lee told BT in an interview. He added that the joint-venture (JV) structure incorporates operational flexibility should exit options be considered down the road. “There is a tag-along clause like all other JVs,” he said. The planned acquisition is part of a major strategic push by the Malaysian property giant to expand its Singapore commercial footprint beyond its current presence in Marina Bay and the Downtown Core. Lee noted that One Raffles Place “is actually a landmark building in Singapore”, and pointed to Tower One’s status as one of the three tallest buildings in the country. He also highlighted the property’s long leasehold tenure, “almost equivalent to a freehold property”. One Raffles Place comprises two office towers – one of 62 storeys and the other, 38 storeys – and a six-level retail podium. The total net lettable area is understood to be about 875,000 square feet. The development is on four land parcels with a mix of tenures. One plot has an 841-year leasehold tenure, which started in November 1985; the other three have 99-year leasehold tenures (two starting from May 1983, and the third from November 1985). One Raffles Place is primarily controlled by OUE Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) , which holds a 67.95 per cent effective interest via registered owner OUB Centre (OUBC). UOB holds an 18.46 per cent beneficial interest in the property, held in trust by OUBC, in which UOB owns a 10 per cent stake. While long-term rejuvenation is being evaluated, the group is assessing different plans, Lee noted. “There is no fixed plan yet to redevelop the retail podium and Tower One... The first thing we will do after we acquire the assets is to improve on the tenancy mix in the retail podium. “I think there’s a lot of demand for retail space in Raffles Place because there’s a big population of office crowds there, and a shortage of dining options. So we need to improve that and offer better options for the office workers downtown,” he said. To support its rapidly expanding portfolio across Singapore – which includes IOI Central Boulevard Towers, South Beach and Shenton House – Lee is laying the groundwork for a capital-recycling exercise. “Work began three to four months ago, and we (have) appointed DBS and Jefferies as main advisers,” he said. The group has identified IOI Central Boulevard Towers and the office tower at South Beach as among the initial properties to seed the fund. Together, these two assets carry a valuation of around S$6 billion, noted Lee. The group is planning to sell up to 40 per cent of its stake in both properties, and recycle capital of about S$2.4 billion. The stakes will probably be sold to the likes of private equity or sovereign wealth funds, Lee added. Asked at the panel discussion about IOI’s debt, which in the last four years has increased by 40 per cent, the group CEO said: “Our game plan is not just to acquire blindly.” “Our plan is to actually securitise our assets by offering a Reit; and other than a public Reit, we are also looking at a private fund,” Lee told the panel, noting that the group holds close to S$12 billion worth of prime Singapore office space. Structuring such funds will allow IOI to deleverage, “and give ourselves more room to actually acquire more assets in the future”. The timeline and execution for a Reit listing will depend on market conditions, he said. IOI’s expansion comes as rising prime-office rents boost its existing portfolio yields. At South Beach, office rental rates have climbed from S$9 per square foot (psf) to about S$11 psf over two years, while average daily rates at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach have doubled from about S$400 to S$800. At IOI Central Boulevard Towers, rents have reached close to S$18 psf, from around S$8 psf when the site was acquired in 2016, Lee pointed out. The group is also developing the 683-unit W Residences Singapore Marina View, on a site it acquired in 2021 for S$1.5 billion. Sales for the luxury project have been slow, with 15 units sold at between S$1.9 million and S$10.9 million since marketing started in 2025. With about 2 per cent of units sold, Lee said that the group has no intention of discounting remaining units. “We will not drop prices in W Residences because we have created a very unique product – a high-end, branded service residence that offers hospitality-driven services similar to a luxury hotel.” “We’re prepared to actually bite the bullet,” he said, holding on to unsold units to lease them out to expatriates and foreigners. Asked how the CBD might evolve with the government’s push to bring more life into the business district, Lee said: “I think the Singapore CBD will become a very attractive place for Singaporeans as well as foreigners to want to live and work and play here. “The main thing I think the government should do is, first of all, remove the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) for foreigners... It’s just too punitive,” he added. Foreigners buying any residential property in Singapore are subjected to 60 per cent ABSD. The group is also preparing to redevelop Shenton House, which Lee acquired in 2023 for S$538 million under a private vehicle. IOI Properties on Oct 2 agreed to acquire the private vehicle for S$1, also taking over the S$217.06 million in shareholder advances that Lee had injected as well as about S$376.23 million in debt. The rebuild is scheduled to begin in early 2027, and is slated to take three to five years from demolition to completion. Asked during the panel session about the IOI group’s recent acquisition “rampage” in Singapore, Lee put it down to deep personal familiarity and strong conviction in the city-state. “I’m actually very familiar with Singapore... I studied here for six years as a student, and I’ve worked here for two years. “I have confidence in the governance, in the stable policy and the strong government that Singapore has, and that is the underlying factor behind my confidence in Singapore.” He has trained his focus on the prime CBD area. “We are riding the wave – not just because of the tightness in supply of prime office space in the CBD area, but we are also riding the wave of the good policies introduced by the Singapore government.” “My personal target is to be one of the three biggest developers in Singapore,” Lee added. ## Chinese translation > Translation model: grok_cli ### IOI产业集团与凯德投资联合竞购莱佛士坊一号更进一步 IOI产业集团首席执行官表示，出价已提交给华联企业房地产投资信托和大华银行，并获接受进入独家尽职调查 [新加坡] IOI产业集团与凯德投资（CLI）目前正就收购莱佛士坊一号展开独家尽职调查，双方已向业主华联企业房地产投资信托（OUE Reit）和大华银行提交各占50%的联合出价。 马来西亚IOI产业集团首席执行官李耀星周三（10月7日）在新加坡出席福布斯全球CEO峰会期间接受《商业时报》采访时表示，该出价约在三个月前提出。 此前报道称，这处位于黄金中央商业区（CBD）的物业指示性定价约为新币23亿元至24亿元。 李耀星在采访中对《商业时报》表示：“我们目前已进入独家阶段，正在开始尽职调查，并正在讨论买卖协议的最终条款。” 他补充说，合资（JV）结构纳入了运营灵活性，以便日后考虑退出选项。“就像所有其他合资项目一样，设有随售条款。”他说。 这项拟议收购是这家马来西亚地产巨头一项重大战略举措的一部分，旨在将其新加坡商业版图从目前的滨海湾和市中心核心区进一步扩大。 李耀星指出，莱佛士坊一号“其实是新加坡的地标建筑”，并提到一号塔是该国最高的三座建筑之一。 他还强调该物业拥有很长的租约年期，“几乎等同于永久地契物业”。 莱佛士坊一号由两座办公楼组成——一座62层，另一座38层——以及一座六层零售裙楼。总净可出租面积据了解约为875,000平方英尺。 该项目坐落在四块地契年期不同的地段上。其中一块为841年租约，自1985年11月起计；其余三块为99年租约（两块自1983年5月起计，第三块自1985年11月起计）。 莱佛士坊一号主要由华联企业房地产投资信托（Reit）控制，该信托通过注册业主华侨银行中心（OUBC）持有67.95%的有效权益。 大华银行持有该物业18.46%的实益权益，由OUBC以信托方式持有，而大华银行拥有OUBC 10%的股权。 李耀星指出，集团正在评估长期更新，并审视不同计划。 “目前尚未有固定计划要重建零售裙楼和一号塔……收购资产后我们要做的第一件事，是改善零售裙楼的租户组合。 “我认为莱佛士坊对零售空间有很大需求，因为那里有大量办公人群，餐饮选择却不足。所以我们需要改善这一点，为市中心的办公人群提供更好的选择。”他说。 为支持其在新加坡迅速扩张的投资组合——包括IOI中央林荫道大厦、南湾和珊顿大厦——李耀星正在为资本循环安排打下基础。 “工作在三到四个月前已经开始，我们已委任星展银行和杰富瑞担任主要顾问。”他说。 集团已确定将IOI中央林荫道大厦和南湾办公楼作为该基金的初始种子资产。李耀星指出，这两项资产合计估值约为新币60亿元。 集团计划出售这两处物业最多40%的股权，回收约新币24亿元资金。李耀星补充说，股权很可能出售给私募股权或主权财富基金等买家。 在小组讨论中被问及IOI过去四年债务增加了40%时，集团首席执行官表示：“我们的策略不是盲目收购。” “我们的计划其实是通过设立房地产投资信托（Reit）来将资产证券化；除了公开上市的Reit，我们也在考虑私募基金。”李耀星在小组讨论中表示，并指出集团持有价值近新币120亿元的新加坡优质办公空间。 搭建此类基金将使IOI得以去杠杆，“并为我们未来收购更多资产腾出更大空间”。 他表示，房地产投资信托上市的时间表和执行将取决于市场状况。 IOI的扩张正值优质办公楼租金上涨、提升其现有投资组合收益率之际。 在南湾，办公租金在两年内从每平方英尺新币9元（psf）升至约每平方英尺新币11元，而新加坡南湾JW万豪酒店的平均日房价则从约新币400元翻倍至新币800元。 李耀星指出，IOI中央林荫道大厦的租金已接近每平方英尺新币18元，而2016年购入该地块时约为每平方英尺新币8元。 集团还在开发拥有683个单位的新加坡滨海景W公寓（W Residences Singapore Marina View），该地块于2021年以新币15亿元购入。 这个豪华项目销售进展缓慢，自2025年开始销售以来，已售出15个单位，成交价介于新币190万元至1090万元。 在已售出约2%单位的情况下，李耀星表示集团无意对剩余单位打折。 “我们不会下调W公寓的价格，因为我们打造的是非常独特的产品——高端品牌服务式公寓，提供类似豪华酒店的接待式服务。” “我们准备好咬紧牙关。”他说，将持有未售单位并出租给外派人员和外国人。 被问及在政府推动为商业区注入更多活力的情况下，中央商业区可能如何演变时，李耀星表示：“我认为新加坡中央商业区将成为新加坡人和外国人都非常向往在此居住、工作和休闲的地方。 “我认为政府首先应该做的，是取消针对外国人的额外买方印花税（ABSD）……这项税负实在太重了。”他补充说。 外国人在新加坡购买任何住宅物业须缴纳60%的额外买方印花税。 集团也在准备重建珊顿大厦，李耀星于2023年通过私人载体以新币5.38亿元购入该物业。 IOI产业集团于10月2日同意以新币1元收购该私人载体，同时接手李耀星注入的新币2.1706亿元股东垫款，以及约新币3.7623亿元债务。 重建计划于2027年初开始，预计从拆除到竣工需要三至五年。 在小组讨论中被问及IOI集团近期在新加坡的收购“狂潮”时，李耀星将其归因于个人对这个城市国家的深厚熟悉和坚定信心。 “我其实非常熟悉新加坡……我曾在这里读了六年书，也在这里工作过两年。 “我对新加坡的治理、稳定政策和强大政府有信心，这是我对新加坡有信心的根本因素。” 他将重点放在黄金中央商业区。 “我们正在乘势而上——不仅是因为中央商业区优质办公空间供应紧张，我们也在搭上新加坡政府推出的良好政策这股东风。” “我的个人目标是成为新加坡三大发展商之一。”李耀星补充说。