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Bidding for Agora in private talks

"After several private equity funds and foreign investors said they were not allowed to bid in an open auction, Agora's owner decided to scrap the scheduled open auction."

Billy Yen, general manager of real-estate consultancy DTZ

Potential buyers interested in acquiring the Agora Garden (亞太會館) hotel, located in Taipei City's Xinyi District (信義), are entering direct price negotiations with the owner to close the deal by March 28, the hotel's real-estate consultancy DTZ (戴德梁行) said yesterday.

"After several private equity funds and foreign investors said they were not allowed to bid in an open auction, Agora's owner decided to scrap the scheduled open auction [on March 28] and enter [closed-door] price negotiations with each buyer," said Billy Yen (顏炳立), general manager of DTZ.

The change was announced at a pre-auction meeting yesterday.

"But the deal remains to be finalized by March 28, with a floor price of NT$6.9 billion [US$224.4 million]," he said.

Closed-door talks should drive up the closing price of the 14-floor five-star hotel, said another real-estate service provider, who declined to be named, adding that most bidders had indicated they would go "a little bit higher than NT$7 billion."

Market watchers cast doubts on whether luxury home prices in the district could exceed NT$1.5 million per ping, the realtor said.

Yen expressed confidence over the sale, which he described as the hottest deal he's ever managed.

"The deal will close at way more than NT$7 billion," he said.

After domestic buyer Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), a subsidiary of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), expressed interest late last month, market observers predicted the closing price could top NT$8 billion.

The realtor said that more than 100 bidders, including Chinese investors, have expressed interest. More than 30 of them have visited the property and 18 bidders, including Shin Kong Life, came to the pre-auction meeting.

In response to the decision to cancel the auction in favor of closed-door negotiations, Shin Kong Life executive vice president Reghpa Wu (吳章偉) said "the insurer may need time to study" a new bidding price.

Given that nearby properties were priced between NT$1.4 million and NT$1.6 million per ping, DTZ said that it was optimistic that planned luxury home projects at the Agora site could hit NT$2 million to NT$2.5 million per ping, or higher, in coming years.

If so, the projects could generate a profit of at least 20 percent, even if the property costs NT$4 million per ping, DTZ said.

The Agora, which averaged NT$240 million in annual revenues, will generate enough cash to cover the buyer's interest payments for loans of up to NT$8 billion, Agora general manager Jessica Hsieh (謝美慶) said.
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