ANT International, a digital payment and financial technology provider that is affiliated with China’s Ant Group, is expected to take up three floors at the iconic Exchange 106 building in Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) for its upcoming digital business centre, sources say.

Occupying 62,000 sq ft, it is set to be the skyscraper’s fifth largest tenant after China’s Huawei (240,000 sq ft), Cyprus’ Exness (140,000 sq ft), the UK’s The Access Group (87,000 sq ft) and Centauri Services & Technology (86,000 sq ft). Centauri is part of the OKG Group, an international group that provides blockchain technology and services.

Exchange 106 is the country’s second tallest building after Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) newly opened Merdeka 118 tower.

Singapore-headquartered Ant International had, in April, put out a press release announcing that it would establish a “new digital business centre” in the country, within Exchange 106, that would tap local tech talent to drive its global businesses. It said the move would create more than 500 job opportunities in the first year, with more hiring expected over the next four years until 2028.

The company did not provide an exact timeline as to when the business centre would be set up at Exchange 106, saying only it would be “by 2025”. When contacted last week, it said it had no further update.

According to industry sources, Ant International had signed up for a tenancy that commences in mid-December this year. However, its office fit-out is estimated to be completed only in the first quarter of next year.

“Once it moves in, the occupancy rate at Exchange 106 will be 52%,” one of the sources says.

Ant International, which has been present in Malaysia since 2014, has an office at G Tower in Jalan Tun Razak, not far from TRX. It is not immediately known whether it also plans to move its entire operations into Exchange 106, along with the new business centre.

Some two weeks ago, on Nov 22, the United Arab Emirates’ Bin Zayed International Group of Companies (BZI) officially set up a local presence at Exchange 106.

Bin Zayed International (M) Bhd, which will serve as a strategic hub for the conglomerate’s operations in Southeast Asia, occupies one floor, or around 29,000 sq ft. BZI chairman Sheikh Khaled Zayed Saquer Zayed Al Nahyan flew in for the opening ceremony, which was also attended by Bollywood actor Datuk Shah Rukh Khan.

Completed in 2019, Exchange 106 has about 2.6 million sq ft of net lettable area. The 106-storey tower boasts 93 column-free office floors.

Huawei, which moved into the building in September 2022, occupies 10 floors, while Exness — part of an online trading broker — did so in July 2023 and occupies six floors.

The Access Group and Centauri, which became tenants in May 2024 and May 2022 respectively, each occupies three floors.

The asking monthly gross rent for Exchange 106 is estimated to be between RM10 and RM15 per sq ft, making it the highest in the country for office space, according to Knight Frank Malaysia in its real estate report for 1H2024.

The report notes that, within Kuala Lumpur city, average rental rates continued to move up in 1H2024, reaching an estimated RM6.58 per sq ft per month compared with RM6.48 in 2H2023. The increase was partly attributed to the higher rents of newly completed buildings and improved overall leasing sentiment, particularly for Prime A+ and Grade A offices.

Sources say Ant International, which is taking up the 75th, 76th and 77th floors of Exchange 106, will be paying rent of “above RM10 per sq ft”, higher than that of early bird Huawei, which is located on relatively lower floors.

Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd, the developer and manager of Exchange 106, expects occupancy of up to 70% by the end of next year.

“We are conservatively confident that we will see committed space of up to 70% by end of 2025,” Mulia Property general manager-cum-chief operating officer Patrick Honan tells The Edge in an email response to queries. He declined to comment on Ant International’s upcoming tenancy.

Mulia Property is 51%-owned by Minister of Finance (Inc) and 49%-owned by Indonesia-based Mulia Group.

Asked if it has been difficult securing new tenants given new competitors in town, including Merdeka 118, which officially opened its office tower in January, Honan says: “At Exchange 106, we differentiate ourselves from other commercial buildings by providing a solutions-based management. By focusing on understanding and meeting the specific requirements of tenants, we create attractive, flexible solutions that cater to the evolving demands of the market. Ultimately, this differentiates us in a competitive landscape.”

Bursa Malaysia is mulling taking up space at Exchange 106, The Edge reported in June.

Merdeka 118 is owned by PNB’s wholly-owned subsidiary PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd. PNB occupies 17 floors of the skyscraper, while Malayan Banking Bhd is set to be its anchor tenant once it relocates its headquarters there.

Source: The Edge Malaysia, December 9, 2024