“It is an excellent experience to work with Benjamin. He is a seasoned professional who knows how to tackle challenging situations and offers clients a different perspective to take an informed decision.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific
Benjamin has a 16-year track record of involvement in multiple real estate transactions involving prominent commercial buildings in Singapore’s central business district and industrial properties administered by Jurong Town Corporation (“JTC“).
His expertise spans the spectrum of sale and purchase transactions, and he was involved in multiple transactions relating to commercial properties such as Duo Tower, Cross Street Exchange, 20 Anson, So Sofitel, Wisteria Mall, Yee Tee Point, Jurong Point, and other significant assets within Singapore.
Benjamin’s proficiency extends to matters related to JTC land, including built-to-suit transactions and share and asset sale and purchase agreements pertaining to JTC properties.
In the industrial space, Benjamin represents a diverse clientele consisting of funds investing in Singapore’s industrial properties and end users seeking properties for various purposes, notably data centres as well as built-to-suit properties.
Through extensive experience, he has developed insights into clients’ commercial needs and an appreciation of JTC’s industrial policy. Benjamin is deeply committed to assisting his clients in complying with these policies while effectively addressing their specific needs.
Benjamin has earned notable recognition from reputable legal publications. He is a ranked lawyer in Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024, with clients praising him for being a “seasoned professional who knows how to tackle challenging situations“, and a “go-to lawyer for all deals where possible“.
He is also recognised as a Next Generation Lawyer by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024, a Rising Star by asialaw 2024, and a Leading Individual in Real Estate by Best Lawyers since 2023. Additionally, Asian Legal Business included Benjamin in their esteemed 40 Under 40 list for Corporate Real Estate in 2019, a testament to his involvement in significant deals and the accolades bestowed upon him by his peers, superiors, and clients.
EXPERIENCE
- Acted for Facebook in its acquisition of S$1.4 billion first-in-Asia data centre in Singapore which will be an 11-storey, 1.8 million square feet facility completely powered by renewable energy and new StatePoint Liquid Cooling system.
- Acted for Sydney-based hyperscale data centre provider AirTrunk relating to Singapore real estate matters in relation to the refinancing of its existing banking facilities. The investment values AirTrunk at more than A$3 billion.
- Acted for Link Real Estate Investment Trust in its S$2.161 billion acquisition of suburban retail assets, Jurong Point and Swing By @ Thomson Plaza from Mercatus Co-operative Limited, marking Southeast Asia’s largest real estate transaction in 2022.
- Acted for Gaw Capital Partners in the S$1.58 billion acquisition by a consortium of the entire issued and paid-up capital of Ophir-Rochor Commercial Pte. Ltd, a wholly owned-subsidiary of M+S Pte Ltd, which owns the properties known as “Duo Tower” and “Duo Galleria”. This was the largest commercial deal in 2019.
- Acted for Midtown Properties in the S$525 million acquisition of the PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road – the largest ever single hotel asset transaction in Singapore and the second largest in Asia-Pacific in 2023.
- Acted for the purchaser in the S$810.8 million acquisition of the property known as Cross Street Exchange and situated at 18, 20 and 22 Cross Street, Singapore (which includes the four retails units at 181 South Bridge Road, Singapore) from British and Malayan Trustees Limited (in its capacity as trustee of Frasers Commercial Trust).
- Acted for CWT Pte. Limited. (which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group) and its related companies in the sale of five logistics properties in Singapore for an estimated sale price of S$730 million to Mapletree Logistics Trust. The sale price excludes the estimated upfront land premium for the balance lease terms payable by Mapletree Logistics Trust to Jurong Town Corporation of S$48.3 million.
- Acted for the vendor in the receivers’ and manager’s sale of the property known as Big Box, for S$118 million to Perennial Real Estate Holdings, located in the Jurong Lake District. The property’s gross floor area is about 1.4 million square feet.
- Acted for the syndicate of mandated lead arrangers, lenders and hedge banks as transaction counsel in the in the real estate aspect of the S$1.94 billion financing to Asia Square Tower 1 Pte. Ltd. for the development of a Grade A office and retail building, and subsequent refinancing.
- Acted for the purchaser in the S$220 million acquisition of a retail mall situated at 21 Choa Chu Kang North 6, Singapore 689578 and known as “YewTee Point” from HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited (in its capacity as trustee of Frasers Centrepoint Trust).
- Acted for the vendor in the sale of the 134-room Hotel So, Singapore situated at 35 Robinson Road through a share sale for S$240 million.
- Acted for Viva Industrial Trust Management Pte. Ltd. and Viva Industrial Business Trust on the S$936.7 million merger of ESR-REIT and Viva Industrial Trust by way of a trust scheme of arrangement with a combined S$3 billion in properties predominantly for business parks and other industrial uses.
- Acted for Ascend TGrande Pte. Ltd. in the S$395 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in T-Grande Investment Holding Pte. Ltd. whose wholly-owned Singapore subsidiary, T-Grande Property Holding Pte. Ltd., is the registered proprietor of the property situated at 7 & 9 Tampines Grande, Singapore.
- Acted for Arch Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based fund manager in the S$210 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in Yongjin Holdings Pte. Ltd., the registered proprietor of the property situated at 72 Anson Road, known as Anson House, on behalf of a German fund.
- Acted for M+W Singapore Pte. Ltd. in its successful bid for the data centre situated in Jurong from Jurong Data Centre Development Pte. Ltd. (in creditors’ voluntary liquidation) (receivers and managers appointed) acting through its receivers and managers, and its liquidator. This matter included acting for M+W Singapore Pte Ltd in the real estate aspect of its enforcement of the debenture / mortgage against Jurong Data Centre Development Pte. Ltd. in relation to the data centre located in Jurong.
- Acted for Hywel Investments Ltd. in the sale of 100% shares of Universal Storage Pte. Ltd. the holding company of region’s largest self-storage operator, Extra Space Asia. Universal Storage Pte. Ltd. owns the region’s largest self-storage business with about 70 owned and leased facilities across six countries (Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Hong Kong).
- Acted for StorHub in the S$46 million acquisition of 26 Kallang Avenue and 50 Yishun Industrial Park A, Singapore, as part of StorHub’s expansion of its self-storage portfolio in Singapore.
PUBLICATION
- Contributor, “Real Estate Considerations in Corporate Transactions in Singapore”, Practical Law, published by Thomson Reuters (2023)
