Qatar buys Singapore tower for $2.5bn

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has agreed to buy Asia Square Tower One in Singapore for $2.5bn in what is believed to be the biggest office transaction in the city state.

The emirate’s Qatar Investment Authority will buy the office tower from BlackRock Inc after the building – based in Singapore’s central business district – was placed on the market in 2015.

World’s largest asset manager BlackRock had rebuffed previous bids by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Singaporean developer CapitaLand Ltd., as well as ARA Asset Management Ltd, ultimately accepting an offer from Qatar for the 43-storey tower which counts Citigroup Inc. and KKR & Co. among its tenants.