SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Straits Real Estate (SRE), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed Straits Trading Co, is buying two freehold office buildings in Australia for an approximate consideration of A$150 million ($143.9 million).

On Feb 11, the group announced it has entered into sale and purchase agreements for the assets, both located in Melbourne.  The first asset, located at 1010 La Trobe Street, is a nine-storey freehold Grade-A office building with a net lettable area (NLA) of 15,354 sq m (165,269 sq ft). It is currently 100% occupied.

The second asset, located at 192 Harbour Esplanade, is a five-storey freehold Grade-A office building with a NLA of 5,779 sq m. It is located adjacent to 1010 La Trobe and is majority-occupied by National Broadband Network Co, Australia’s wholesale broadband network provider.

The acquisition follows Strait’s Trading Co’s GBP60 million ($81.3 million) investment in warehouse retail parks in the UK last October. According to the company, both transactions are in line with SRE’s strategic focus on creating realisable value with high-quality income-generating properties.

“This strategy, together with its continuing expansion into the logistics sector, is expected to fuel the growth of SRE’s assets under management from approximately $2.3 billion as of December 2021 to $3.5 billion over the next few years,” the Feb 11 statement reads.