Rowsley to invest US$275m in Myanmar development

POSTED: 12 Feb 2015
ChannelNewsAsia

SINGAPORE: Rowsley, a real estate, architectural and engineering consultancy firm part-owned by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, is making its foray in Myanmar by investing US$275 million (S$274.5 million) in a property project in Yangon.

Under a heads of terms agreement signed on Thursday (Feb 12), Rowsley will take a 50 per cent stake in a company that wholly owns HAGL Myanmar Centre - one of the country's largest integrated projects with four office blocks, a five-star hotel, a retail mall, serviced apartments and residential apartments.

"Yangon currently faces a severe shortage of top-grade office space, hotels and modern malls. The first phase of HAGL Myanmar Centre will be operational in 2015 and will immediately address the acute shortage of real estate in all these asset classes,” Rowsley Chief Executive Officer Lock Wai Han said in a statement.

Rowsley's partner in the project is Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAGL), which will undertake the construction of the entire project.

Spread over more than 73,000 square metres of land located in a prime neighbourhood next to Inya Lake in Yangon, HAGL Myanmar Centre has a land lease term of 50 years and option for another 10+10 years, with the project valued at US$550 million when completed.

Myanmar has seen strong economic growth in recent years. The International Monetary Fund, however, warned earlier this week that the country's economy is set to grow at a slower pace of 7.8 per cent in the fiscal year ending Mar 31 due to a slowdown in agriculture.
- CNA/ek