UOL bags Green Meadows for $255m

UOL GROUP LIMITED

Company Registration No. 196300438C

ACQUISITION OF GREEN MEADOWS LOCATED AT TAGORE AVENUE, SINGAPORE


The Board of Directors of UOL Group Limited ("UOL" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has, through its wholly* owned subsidiary UOL Development Pte Ltd ("UOLD"), entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement ("S&PA") to acquire the following property, details of which are as follows:

1. Property: Green Meadows located at Tagore Avenue, Singapore
2. Tenure : Freehold
3. Total Land Area: Approximately 455,000 square feet
4. Purpose: Development of the Property into residential apartments
5. Purchase Price: S$255 million

UOLD has entered into the S&PA with the subsidiary proprietors of strata lots holding not less than 80% of the share values in the Property for the purchase of the Property. The sale and purchase of the Property is subject to certain conditions including the order for sale from the Strata Titles Board ("STB Order").

An initial deposit of S$250,000 ("Initial Deposit") has been paid on signing of the S&PA. A deposit of 5% of the Purchase Price (less the Initial Deposit) will be paid within 7 days of the date of the S&PA and a further deposit of 5% of the Purchase Price will be paid within 7 days of the receipt of the STB Order. The balance of the Purchase Price will be paid on completion, which is expected to take place 3 months from the date of the STB Order.

The acquisition and subsequent redevelopment of the Property will be financed by internal funds and bank borrowings.


Relative Figures under Rule 1006 of the SGX Listing Manual

Market Capitalisation Test - The relative figures that were computed on the basis set out in Rule 1006(c) of the Listing Manual of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the "Listing Manual") are as set out below:

The aggregate consideration paid by UOL for the acquisition of S$255.0 million constitutes approximately 6.4% of the market capitalisation of the UOL group of approximately S$3,997.7 million, based on the volume weighted average price of the Company's shares transacted on 9 March 2007, being the last market day preceding the date of this Announcement.

The relative figures in Rule 1006(a), Rule 1006(b) and Rule 1006(d) of the Listing Manual are not applicable.

The acquisition constitutes a discloseable transaction under Rule 1010 of the Listing Manual.


Financial Effects

For illustrative purposes only, based on the latest announced unaudited consolidated financial statements of the UOL group for the year ended 31 December 2006, the acquisition is not expected to have a material financial impact on the UOL group's net tangible assets per share as at 31 December 2006 assuming that the acquisition had been effected at the end of the UOL group's financial year ended 31 December 2006. The acquisition is also not
expected to have a material financial impact on the UOL group's earnings per share for the financial year ended 31 December 2006 assuming that the acquisition had been effected at the beginning of the UOL group's financial year ended 31 December 2006.


Interests of Directors and Controlling Shareholders

The Company is not aware that any of the Directors of the Company or any of the controlling shareholders of the Company has any interest, direct or indirect, in the transaction.


Submitted by
Foo Thiam Fong Wellington,
Company Secretary
on 12/03/2007 to the SGX




K:\4gracewong\announce\acquisitions\Green Meadows\Announcement- Final-Rule1010.doc

I think Green Meadows is a good buy for UOL. It has huge land area, and is ready to take up overflow - people who got bought out of Thomson and Balestier by recent enblocs and can't afford anything else in the same area.

Published March 13, 2007

PROPERTY MATTERS

UOL bags Green Meadows for $255m

Breakeven cost for a new condo could be $560-$580 psf: market watchers

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


UOL Group has bought Green Meadows at Upper Thomson Road for $255 million through a collective sale.


http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9...0776dacbk5.jpg
Green Meadows: The collective sale for the Upper Thomson Road site was launched just last week


The unit land price for the 455,379 sq ft freehold site works out to $400 psf of potential gross floor area.

No development charge is payable, even if an additional 10 per cent gross floor area allowed for balconies is fully utilised.

The breakeven cost for a new condo could be $560-$580 psf, market watchers reckon.

The collective sale was launched just last week by Orion Property Consultants. The sale to UOL was by private treaty - ahead of the April 12 tender deadline for the property.

The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio and five-storey maximum height. UOL can redevelop the site into a condo of about 450 apartments averaging 1,550 sq ft, set in the low-rise residential enclave of Teachers' Estate and a stone's throw from the Upper and Lower Peirce reservoirs.

This will not be the group's first project in the vicinity. In the 1990s it developed Island Country Villas - diagonally across Green Meadows - on a 99-year leasehold site it bagged at a state auction.

The group was also the original developer of Faber Garden Condo nearby.

UOL has been in the news lately with a preview of its One North Residences last week. It has sold 391 of the 405 units in the 99-year leasehold condo at Buona Vista, achieving an average price of $900 psf. UOL is developing the project jointly with Low Keng Huat and Kheng Leong.

With the project almost sold out, UOL is said to be gearing up for a preview this week of its next project, Pavillion 11 at Minbu Rd. The 33-storey freehold condo comprises 180 units - mostly two and three bedders, with four penthouses. The average price is expected to be above $900 psf.