Marble and stone supplier Hafary to buy 11 shophouses on Lavender Street at $71.28m for new flagship store

SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed Hafary Holdings has exercised the option to purchase a property at 161 Lavender Street at the price of $71.28 million, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hafary Flagship Store.

The property, which consists of a row of 11 shophouses currently tenanted to popular cafes such as Apartment Coffee and Glacier, will be established as the group's new flagship store.

Hafary, which supplies building materials such as marble and stone, said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (July 12) that the consideration was arrived at based on arms-length negotiations between the parties after taking into account prevailing market conditions and the prices for other comparable transactions in Singapore.

With a gross floor area of approximately 45,212 sq ft, the building comes with a four-storey rear extension and 10 covered car parking spaces as well as a triple frontage to Lavender Street, Foch Road and Tyrwhitt Road, which the group said could offer potential signage and naming rights.

The book value of the property stands at $73.4 million, inclusive of a stamp duty that amounts to $2.1 million.

At the time of purchase, Hafary has paid a deposit of $3.6 million, or five per cent of the consideration. It intends to seek shareholder approval for the proposed transaction before closing the deal, where failure to do so would see the group forfeiting its deposit.

Under terms of the option, Hafary must pay the remaining value within four months of exercising its option to successfully purchase the shophouses.

Hafary believes that establishing a flagship store at the site would allow the group to showcase a "wider range of its products in a more accessible and convenient location" and "better serve the needs of its retail customers in Singapore".

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This article was first published in The Business Times. Permission required for reproduction.