CIC and PGIM Seek Up to S$1.25 Billion for Half-Stake in Singapore’s Nex Mall
China Investment Corporation and PGIM are asking S$1.2 billion to S$1.25 billion for their combined 50 per cent interest in Singapore's Nex shopping mall. The expression of interest exercise has closed, with bids now under review by the sellers.
China Investment Corporation (CIC) and PGIM are seeking S$1.2 billion to S$1.25 billion (US$936 million to US$975 million) for their combined 50 per cent interest in Singapore’s Nex shopping mall, putting a stake in the biggest suburban mall in the city-state’s northeast on the market at a premium to its latest appraisal. Market sources confirmed the asking range, the mall’s latest valuation and that the expression of interest (EOI) exercise conducted by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL drew two or three bids before closing about a week ago. The Business Times first reported the EOI campaign for the neighbourhood mall in northeastern Singapore’s Serangoon area, with the sellers now reviewing the bids.
The asking range implies a value of S$2.4 billion to S$2.5 billion for the entire property, 6 to 11 per cent above its S$2.262 billion appraisal as of 30 September. It is also 15 to 20 per cent above the S$2.08 billion property value agreed when a Frasers joint venture bought the other half in 2023. SGX-listed Frasers Centrepoint Trust, which now owns that half, holds a right of first refusal on the stake, putting the retail REIT in position to take full ownership of the Serangoon mall.
Chinese sovereign fund CIC owns most of the vehicle holding the stake on offer, with US-based investment manager PGIM retaining a minority interest. PGIM’s real estate arm, then known as Pramerica Real Estate Investors, developed Nex and continues to manage the property. A PGIM representative declined to comment when contacted Monday.
Frasers Centrepoint Trust first invested in Nex in 2023. The trust got its first piece of Nex when it teamed with sponsor Frasers Property to buy Mercatus Co-operative’s half-stake for S$652.5 million, giving the trust a 25.5 per cent effective interest and its sponsor 24.5 per cent. The trust bought its sponsor’s interest in 2024, lifting its holding to 50 per cent. That deal valued the whole mall at S$2.127 billion, equivalent to a 4.8 per cent yield on net property income for the year through September 2023.
Nex sits above the Serangoon MRT interchange, where the North East and Circle lines meet, and connects directly to the district’s bus interchange. The seven-level mall had about 635,000 square feet (59,000 square metres) of net lettable area before its current upgrade. The S$90 million project will convert part of the car park into retail and office space, adding 44,000 square feet of lettable area. The first phase is due to finish in December, with the second targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2028.
The Nex campaign follows a string of suburban mall sales at yields in the 4 per cent range. The Clementi Mall drew 12 first-round offers before selling for S$809 million late last year, about 8 per cent above its initial guide price, reflecting a net yield of 4.1 per cent. White Sands sold at an 8.4 per cent premium to appraisal and a yield of 4.6 per cent, while the S$276 million sale of Rivervale Mall in Sengkang put that property’s yield at 4.7 per cent.
