CIMB-Mapletree buys Patimas’ HQ for RM60m

Written by Financial Daily
Friday, 23 October 2009 11:01

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB-Mapletree Management Sdn Bhd (CMM) has completed the acquisition of PATIMAS COMPUTERS BHD []’s headquarters in TECHNOLOGY [] Park Malaysia (TPM), Bukit Jalil here for RM60 million.

In a statement yesterday, CMM said the property comprised a two-storey purpose-built Grade A office building with a gross area of 138,000 sq ft. Patimas will continue to lease and utilise the building as its headquarters over a period of 12 years, with an option for an extension.

The acquisition represented the fourth commercial property to be acquired by CMREF 1 Sdn Bhd — a Malaysian-focused private closed-end real estate fund that is managed by CMM, a 60:40 joint-venture between CIMB Group and Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd of Singapore.

Investors in CMREF 1 include pension funds, institutions and foreign sovereign wealth funds.

CMM chief executive officer Raja Noorma Othman said Patimas’ headquarters would provide recurring rental income with potential for capital appreciation in the future and generate an existing yield of 8%.

“Furthermore, TPM is a hidden gem — it has managed to stay off the radar screen in spite of being superbly located, well-planned and managed with excellent infrastructure,” said Raja Noorma, describing the purchase as a landmark transaction, being the first property located in TPM to have been acquired by a third party since TPM’s establishment in 1996.

TPM is built over a 750-acre land which is leased for a period of 99-years from Federal Lands Commissioner, which is the ultimate owner of the freehold interest in the land. TPM is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance and has been in operation since its inception on Nov 28, 1996.

TPM offers infrastructure and facilities such as lab and office space to incubators (at heavily subsidised rents) targeted to newly established companies, and land lots for lease to more established companies.

Patimas group is principally involved in the information and communications technology, providing a broad range of information and communication technology services, solutions and products.

CMM said due to the attractive business opportunities in the international market, Patimas had been actively venturing its activities abroad, namely in Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, October 23, 2009.