The surprise announcement by Capital & Integrated Commercial Trust of the acquisition of Paragon from Cuscaden Peak.

I am surprised by Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust’s (“CICT”) announcement that it will acquire Paragon from Cuscadon Peak. As a former unit-holder of SPH REIT and later on the renamed Paragon REIT, I vividly remember a year ago, the folks at Cuscadon Group had said that Paragon needed S$500 million to S$600 million for a major makeover and renovation to fight off the intense competition at Orchard Road. From now on, all unit-holders of Paragon REIT will suffer a huge loss in income for 4 years during this major change. The best option then suggested was privatization, which valued Paragon at S$2.9 billion. Less than 1 year after Cuscaden took Paragon REIT private, they suddenly decided not to move forward with the transformation, but instead decided to sell Paragon to CICT for $3.9 billion. Personally, I thought all ex-Paragon retail unitholders were screwed.