Commercial Property Editor
Sydney
SINGAPOREAN billionaires Robert and Philip Ng have upped their exposure to the Australian property market with the purchase of a Sydney tower that takes their local development pipeline to more than $1 billion.
The Ng family's Far East Organisation, the largest private property developer in Singapore, yesterday bought the Ausgrid building on Sydney's George Street for $151.8 million.
The price, as with many of the group's purchases, was higher than expected. The vendor, the NSW government, said the sale freed up funds for essential services and infrastructure.
The Ng brothers, who inherited a property empire from their father Ng Teng Fong, who developed more than 700 hotels, malls and apartment blocks in Singapore and Hong Kong, are worth $US11bn ($12.1bn), according to Forbes magazine.
The magazine valued their private real estate holdings in Far East Organisation at more than $US6bn but their purchases in Australia may leave this figure in need of revision.
In a near unprecedented spree, the brothers have outlaid about $800m on Australian commercial property and hotel businesses in less than a year.
Just two weeks ago, the group bought two Park Street buildings overlooking Sydney's Hyde Park from Kyko Group for $127m.
The site, which includes Kerry Packer's former headquarters, is tipped to be converted to apartments, once tenants such as Bauer Media shift out.
The group bought 227 Elizabeth Street last November for about $143m and is planning a luxury apartment conversion. It also picked up the Clocktower Square in Sydney's Rocks district for $72m from local billionaire Bob Ell, who has been selling to cashed-up Asian groups.
Far East is not constrained to buying office buildings.
Last October, it blew local institutions out of the water with a $205m play for Perth's Harbour Town Centre, and it later made a near $300m offer for Sydney's Harbourside Shopping Centre.
The surge in the family's interest in Australia kicked off last April when its listed hospitality arm, Far East Orchard Limited, struck a deal to invest $225m in well-known hotel and property player Toga Group, adding to its existing local hotel brands.
Those familiar with the Ng family said the company was in no rush to develop its purchases.
"They are land-banking these sites," said one executive, who added the group was able to beat local and international competitors by taking a bet on what Australian property might be worth in 25 years.
The largest part of the Ng family's fortune is held in Tsim Sha Tsui Properties, headed by older brother Robert, in Hong Kong. Philip oversees the Singapore interests, Forbes said. But late last year they picked up a retreat on Scotland Island in Sydney's north that could give them a base from which to oversee their local operations.
NSW Finance and Services Minister Andrew Constance said the sale, brokered by Macquarie Capital, "significantly exceeded" the building's retention value. In a nod to Far East Organisation's ambitions, he said the Ausgrid building had the potential to be converted into a hotel, retail and residential complex.
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