The Germany-based investments group has bought a 20 per cent stake in the financial district property.

Germany-based financial conglomerate Allianz has agreed to buy a 20 per cent stake in Singapore’s Ocean Financial Centre, a 43-storey tower at the heart of the city’s financial district. The tower is located at the intersection of Raffles Place and Marina Bay. The agreed transaction value is S$537.3 ($391 million) million.

At present, Keppel REIT owns 99.9 per cent of the 99-year leasehold interest in Ocean Financial Centre which expires in 2110. The tower was built in 2011 by Keppel Land and designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. The property offers a total net lettable area of 877,635 sf comprising a grade A office tower with retail component on the ground floor and basement level.

The transaction was conducted by Allianz Real Estate, the €60 billion ($67.9 billion) real estate investment and asset manager of the Allianz Group, on behalf of several Allianz companies. This investment is part of Allianz’s strategy to allocate five to ten per cent of its real estate exposure to Asia-Pacific. 

“This transaction is aligned with our approach of creating a quality portfolio of core assets in 24x7 cities. The Singapore office market is experiencing strong rental growth. From an occupational cost and efficiency perspective it continues to be favourable vis-a-vis other comparable markets like Hong Kong,” Rushabh Desai, chief executive Asia-Pacific at Allianz Real Estate, said.