Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management and Frasers Property have jointly acquired a 50 per cent stake in Northeast Singapore’s largest retail property Nex from Mercatus for SG$652.5 million (US$497 million). 

“Nex is a complementary fit to FCT’s existing suburban retail property portfolio,” said Richard Ng, CEO of FCAM. “This acquisition will further enhance FCT’s portfolio diversification and strengthen its performance.”

Nex has a total net lettable area of 634,631sqft and spans seven levels. As of November, the development’s committed occupancy rate was at 99.9 per cent with 332 stores, including FairPrice Xtra, Isetan, H&M, Food Republic and Cold Storage Supermarket. 

The mall is located within the Serangoon housing neighbourhood which has an estimated resident population of 68,800 with 21,634 Housing Development Board flats in the area. 

The deal will take Frasers Centrepoint’s Singapore suburban shopping mall portfolio to 10. 

“This investment in Nex further strengthens our focus in the suburban retail segment where we already have an established platform and strong capabilities,” said Soon Su Lin, CEO of Frasers Property Singapore. 

The acquisition came about a month after Mercatus sold two Singapore retail developments, Jurong Point and Swing By @ Thomson Plaza, to Hong Kong-listed real estate giant Link Reit for US$1.6 billion.