Daily Briefing: GIC, Dexus to acquire 50% of Rialto Towers for $387.5m; Kopar At Newton sold 77 units ahead ‘circuit breaker' measures

And about 3,300 devices have been loaned out to students for home-based learning.

From Deal Street Asia:

Singapore state-owned investor GIC and Australian property investor Dexus set up a joint venture to acquire a 50% stake in Rialto towers, located in Melbourne, Australia, for $387.5m.

GIC will hold 90% of the joint venture, whilst Dexus will hold 10%. Dexus will act as the investment manager of the joint venture, and as the manager of the entire Rialto Towers complex.

The seller is Kuwait-based St. Martin’s Properties.

The deal follows GIC making an additional investment in Dexus Australian Logistics Trust (DALT) for $318.6m announced earlier this month.

Read more here. https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/gic-dexus-rialto-towers-183095/

From Property Guru:

CEL Development has announced that it sold 77 units at Kopar at Newton condo during its launch over the weekend.

The cheapest units transacted were a couple of one-bedders, transacted at $1.1m each. A penthouse, measuring around 3,305 sq ft, was also sold for $7.9m.

Buyers were predominantly Singapore citizens, whilst some are permanent residents and a few Singapore-based foreigners.

Kopar at Newton was the first project to be launched amidst the tighter Covid-19 guidelines on crowd avoidance and ahead of the government’s recently announced moratorium which would see all showflats closed from 7 April to 4 May.

Read more here. https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2020/4/187128/kopar-at-newton-sells-77-units-ahead-of-closure-order-for-showflats

From ChannelNewsAsia:

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has loaned out about 3,300 devices to students following the announcement of full home-based learning, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Over 200 dongles have also been loaned out to students who do not have Internet access at home, ensuring that all students have computer and Internet access for full home-based learning.

Low-income families can also apply for subsidised computers and free broadband through the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) NEU PC Plus programme, said Ong.

Meanwhile, schools will reach out to students “to see who still needs to come to school because they don’t have the support at home to do home-based learning.”

The education ministry will also work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to provide support for families through community partners.

Read more here. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/home-based-learning-laptops-tablets-students-12613964