AsiaContainers

PIL’s HQ up for sale

As it awaits an urgent financial injection from the state, Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) has put its headquarters up for sale, the latest in a string of assets being offloaded by the SS Teo-led firm.

The 17-storey PIL Building located in the heart of Singapore’s central business district, 300 m up the road from the headquarters of Splash, comes with a price tag of S$350m ($252m), according to the local Business Times newspaper.

PIL has been struggling to pay its bills over the last 18 months resulting in many sales, with ships, container manufacturing facilities and its stake in Pacific Direct Line all offloaded.

PIL, the 10th largest containerline in the world with 347,596 slots in its fleet, looks set to join a host of Asian and European containerlines in receiving state aid in one form or another during the coronavirus pandemic. Heliconia Capital Management, part of the sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, is finalising a deal to come in with between $400m and $450m to help PIL pay charter fees and belated bunker bills.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
Back to top button