Ascott Residence Trust (ART) is divesting Ascott Guangzhou in China and Citadines Didot Montparnasse Paris in France, the trust announced on 27 July.

The properties will be sold to two unrelated third parties for an estimated total of SGD191.4 million (USD138 million).

ART is expected to realise total estimated net gains of about SGD23.2 million upon the completion of both transactions.

For Ascott Guangzhou in China, the divestment price of RMB780 million is about 52% above the property’s book value, and about 81.0% higher than the acquisition price in 2012.

ART is expected to realise estimated net gains of about SGD19.4 million upon the completion of the transaction in 1Q 2021.

Meanwhile, for Citadines Didot Montparnasse Paris in France, the divestment price of EUR23.6 million is about 69% above the property’s book value, and about 60.4% higher than the acquisition price in 2010.

ART is expected to realise estimated net gains of about SGD3.8 million upon completion of the transaction in 4Q 2020.

“Despite the COVID-19 situation, the opportunistic sale of Ascott Guangzhou and Citadines Didot Montparnasse Paris at an attractive price allows ART to rejuvenate its portfolio and unlock the strong underlying value of these properties”, said Beh Siew Kim, CEO of the trust.

“We will look out for opportunities to deploy the proceeds to other higher yielding assets for ART. The proceeds may also be used to pare down ART’s debt and reduce its gearing, as distribution to stapled securityholders, or for general corporate purposes”, she added.

ART was last done on the Singapore Exchange at SGD0.91.