Jeram Bintang puts Faber Tower up for sale

KUALA LUMPUR: Faber Tower, which was built by Faber Group Bhd in 1986, is up for sale for RM80 million to RM90 million, people familiar with the matter said.

Jeram Bintang Sdn Bhd, which owns 90 per cent of the commercial complex, has appointed CH Williams Talhar & Wong as the exclusive
marketing agent. The rest of the complex is held by individual owners.

Sources close to Jeram said the company is looking to cash out its share in the complex, which it acquired from Faber in 2004, to focus on other ventures.

Faber had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Jeram, a special purpose vehicle set up by a consortium of banks, to dispose of properties, including hotels and a mall owned by the group as part of its debtrestructuring exercise in May 2004.

The complex comprises two 18- to 20-storey office blocks, a podium and three-level carpark and Jeram is selling 610,000 sq ft of floor area.

Jeram is selling 22 strata office units or 81.4 per cent of Tower 1, and the whole of Tower 2.

Also for sale are 62 strata retail units or 73.6 per cent of the podium, and the carpark.

Property experts said Jeram is selling the properties below market price.

As at December 31 2002, the net book value of the complex sprawled over 2.63 acres was RM105.12 million.

“It is obvious that any investor would be looking at the land area as the buildings are aging and would require a lot of capex (capital expenditure) to be uplifted,” said a property expert who
declined to be named.

He said commercial land surrounding the complex is currently selling for between RM400 per sq ft and RM500 per sq ft.

It is understood WTW has been approached by investors from Malaysia and Singapore.

By Business Times