KUALA LUMPUR: Sentral Real Estate Investment Trust (Sentral REIT) intends to acquire Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd's (MRCB) 27-storey Menara CelcomDigi, formerly known as Menara Celcom.
In a filing with the stock exchange yesterday, Sentral REIT said that its management company, Sentral REIT Management Sdn Bhd, has accepted a letter of intent issued by MRCB to begin negotiations for the proposed acquisition.
The value was not stated in the stock exchange filing, but the building is said to be worth more than RM500 million.
Sentral REIT, originally known as MRCB-Quill Real Estate Investment Trust (MQREIT), has been interested in purchasing Menara Celcom Digi since it was still under construction in 2016 to widen its portfolio.
It presently owns nine assets in its portfolio worth about RM2.06 billion. Menara Shell, Wisma TechnipFMC, Platinum Sentral, Lotuss Building Penang, Quill Building 1 (DHL), Quill Building 4 (DHL), and Quill Building 3 (BMW) are among the properties.
As of March 31, 2023, the total net lettable area (excluding car park area) was 2.11 million square feet. According to Sentral REIT's most recent portfolio update, the portfolio occupancy percentage is 77 per cent.
The majority of its tenants are from the oil and gas, logistics, information technology/electronics, and hypermarket/supermarket sectors.
The building, developed by MRCB's wholly-owned subsidiary Puncak Wangi Sdn Bhd, was handed over to Celcom Axiata Bhd in September 2018.
MRCB said in a separate filing that its wholly-owned subsidiary Puncak Wangi Sdn Bhd will negotiate the purchase with Maybank Trustees Bhd, which is acting on Sentral REIT's behalf.
Menara CelcomDigi, located in Section 52, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, is now leased to Celcom Bhd (previously Celcom Axiata Bhd) for a duration of 15 years, which can be automatically extended for two additional terms of three years each.
The leasehold office skyscraper has a gross floor space of 1.06 million square feet, which includes three levels of basement parking with 788 car parking bays and 287 motorcycle parking bays.
Celcom has greatly benefited from the facility, which serves as its headquarters and successfully facilitates its operations.