The prospective buyer of Scotts Square has reportedly placed a deposit as it carries out due diligence, and a sale agreement could be reached in the first half of September, The Business Times reported.
The four-story freehold mall has about 130,900 square feet (12,160 square meters) of retail space and nearly 76,660 square feet in net leasable area.
It forms part of a strata-titled mixed-use development, which also includes two residential towers. It represents about 43.3% of the development’s share value, with the remainder held by owners of units in the residential towers.
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The Scotts Square shopping mall in Singapore. Photo from Wharf Estates Singapore’s website |
The mall is owned by Wharf Estates Singapore, a wholly owned unit of Hong Kong-based Wharf Real Estate Investment Company, controlled by billionaire Peter Woo.
Bloomberg reported in July that Wharf Real Estate Investment was looking to divest from Scotts Square and Wheelock Place, another mall in the Orchard Road area. An agreement was inked later that month for the sale of Wheelock Place to property developer Hongkong Land at S$1.1 billion.
Scotts Square, meanwhile, has faced higher tenant turnover and weaker foot traffic than other malls along the retail strip despite its prime location.
It was previously marketed at a guide price of S$450 million in early 2024 by property consultancy Savills. Its price was subsequently lowered to S$380 million for an expression-of-interest exercise conducted by CBRE earlier this year.
Raj Kumar and Kishin are among the richest people in Singapore, with each having an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion, according to Forbes. Kishin is also one of the city-state’s few billionaires under 50.
Their combined property empire, comprising Kishin’s RB Capital and Kumar’s Royal Holdings, oversees a multibillion-dollar portfolio in the city-state that includes the RB Capital Building, Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay, Holiday Inn Singapore Little India and InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay.
Earlier this year, Royal Holdings put Cuppage Terrace, a food and beverage enclave in Orchard Road, on the market. A deal has reportedly been reached to sell the property to developer Frasers Property for S$175 million.