EPF buys stake in OSK’s Aussie project

The provident fund is paying 154 million Australian dollars (Bt4 billion) for a 49-per-cent stake in Yarra Park City (YPC), which holds the rights to a five-acre, mixed-use development worth over 9 billion ringgit (Bt70 billion) in Melbourne.
The remaining 51-per-cent interest in YPC is held by PJ Development Holdings, which is a subsidiary of OSK.
The Melbourne project also marked the fund’s second development venture overseas after the Battersea project in London.
In a statement, EPF chief executive officer Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said the Melbourne Square project met the EPF’s long-term objectives and would be a good addition to its overseas portfolio.
“The increasing demand for residential property in Melbourne will enable the EPF to generate returns for its members,” he said.
In the statement, OSK said the Melbourne Square development would transform a former carpark bounded by the Westgate Freeway and Kavanagh, Balston and Power Streets in Southbank into a dynamic mixed-use community and retail centre, with an expected gross development value of $2.8 billion.
OSK CEO and managing director Ong Leong Huat said the Melbourne Square project was one of the last sizeable prime properties available for a iconic development in the city.
“We are delighted to partner the EPF on this exciting project,” he said.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, OSK said its unit PJ Development Holdings had entered into a share sale agreement with the EPF to dispose of its entire stake in Yarra Development Holdings (Australia), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PJ Development Holdings.
OSK said its indirect subsidiary, Yarra Australia Development, had entered into a share subscription agreement with YPC to subscribe to 110.49 million shares or 49 per cent of the entire enlarged paid-up capital of YPC.