Treasury China Trust to buy mall for €63m

TREASURY Holdings’ Chinese offshoot has reached agreement to buy one of Shanghai’s leading shopping malls for just over €63 million.

Treasury China Trust (TCT — formerly China Real Estate Opportunities/CREO — formally announced the deal yesterday, although it had been flagged previously, adding that it reinforces its position as one of the largest investors in China’s commercial real estate sector, with a pronounced focus on Shanghai. Treasury controls 30% of TCT.

The Huai Hai Mall is a four-level retail property, which is home to many of the world’s highest profile luxury brands including LVMH, Gucci, Hermes, Bally, Cartier, Tiffany and Coach and a number of popular multinational mid-market retailers like H&M, Zara, GAP, C&A, Mango, TopShop and Next.

“This is yet another exciting development in the progress of TCT. With this latest acquisition, our asset portfolio in Shanghai will be increased to four properties, totaling in excess of 330,000sq metres of gross floor area under management,” TCT chief executive, Richard David said.

The company also announced yesterday its intention to issue 59.7m Singapore dollars (nearly €34m) of convertible bonds at a price of SGD$2.10 per unit, which is a 20% premium to TCT’s closing price last Wednesday.

This marks TCT’s first foray into the convertible bond market and the funds will be utilised in conjunction with its acquisitions of Huai Hai Mall and the Central Avenue Mall in Qingdao.