Tag Archives: Singapore Sports Hub Consortium

It’s expecting to receive loan offers before year-end

SINGAPORE Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC), the winning bidder for the Singapore Sports Hub project, said yesterday that it has kickstarted efforts to raise bank debt finance to build the mega project. ‘SSHC intends to raise bank debt financing and expects to receive financing offers before year-end,’ the consortium said in a statement.

The consortium is made up of construction firm Dragages Singapore, HSBC Infrastructure Fund, United PREMAS and Global Spectrum Asia. SSHC is redeveloping the National Stadium at Kallang into the Singapore Sports Hub under a private-public-partnership scheme with the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). SSHC will design, build and operate the hub for 25 years.

The project has suffered its fair share of delays and hiccups since it was announced. The completion date has been postponed repeatedly. It was first expected to be completed in 2010, but is now likely to come onstream only in 2013 at the earliest.

One reason for the delay is that banks turned cautious during the economic downturn, making it harder for the winning bidder to raise funds. The cost of building the Sports Hub has also increased – from the initial estimates of $650-800 million to $1.2 billion – as construction costs surged and a watersports centre was worked into the plans.

The total price, after factoring in maintenance and operating costs, is expected to be around $1.87 billion – which is what the government will pay the operator for use of the hub over the 25-year period.

The delays have also put a crimp in Singapore’s plans to host the South-east Asia (SEA) Games in 2013, as the hub may not be ready by then. Covering 35 hectares, it will include a National Stadium that can seat 55,000, a 6,000-capacity indoor aquatic centre, a 3,000-capacity multi-purpose indoor arena and an indoor stadium.

Source : Business Times – 14 Nov 2009

THE troubled Sports Hub is still facing difficulties and the expected construction date could possibly be pushed back further to 2014.

It is understood that the preferred bidder for the $1.87 billion project, the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium, has yet to raise the money necessary for construction to begin at the site of the National Stadium.

The inability to secure funds from the private sector has been a problem plaguing the SSHC since last year, partly as a result of the economic recession.

The consortium said yesterday it had recently launched a financing competition, and that it intends to raise bank debt financing.

Led by construction firm Dragages Singapore, the SSHC expects to receive offers before the end of this year.

‘It’s essentially trying to get loans on the best terms,’ said a source.

A spokesman declined to reveal how much needed to be raised, although it is believed to be at least $1.2 billion, the hub’s estimated construction cost.

The source added: ‘It now all depends on whether we can raise the necessary funds. When that happens, then we can proceed.’

Dragages managing director and SSHC head Ludwig Reichhold said yesterday he was targeting to sign the final contract with the Singapore Sports Council by early next year. In August, he had set the end of this year as a target.

The SSHC had hoped to pull down the National Stadium by the first quarter of next year, but this is dependent on the final contract being signed first.

Demolition will take about three months. Construction can then begin and will take about three years.

Since the project was announced in 2005, its completion date has been pushed back repeatedly from 2010, to 2011, 2012 and then 2013.

Singapore’s hosting of the South-east Asia Games in 2013 is now uncertain.

The hub is a public-private partnership (PPP) project. This means the Government will pay the SSHC – which will design, build, and operate the facility – a monthly unitary payment throughout the project’s 25-year term once the final contract is inked.

Source : Straits Times – 14 Nov 2009