Case study Singapore Sports Hub
Creating an icon
Completed in 2014, the Singapore Sports Hub is a world class sports and entertainment centre that plays a critical role in enhancing sports culture in Singapore.
Investment
Comprised of a 55,000 seat stadium, an aquatic centre, a multi-purpose indoor arena, and a variety of retail and commercial developments – the Singapore Sports Hub is a national and global icon.
Staging world-class sports and entertainment events, while also providing sports and leisure facilities for the community, the development plays a critical role in enhancing the sports and entertainment culture of Singapore.
The centrepiece of the development – the National Stadium – features a retractable roof and stands that are movable, meaning that it can host all types of events. It also has comfort cooling technology, which circulates cool air under the seats (essential requirements given Singapore’s humid climate). The scheme also includes an Olympic sized Water Sports Centre, designed to cater for both elite athlete training and general public use, as well as public facilities for everyday sports and leisure e.g. beach volleyball and badminton courts.
Completed in 2014 – and successfully refinanced in 2015 – the $1.4bn development represents one of the largest PPP projects in the sector, and was the largest PPP in Singapore’s history at the time. Following construction, our consortium retained an operating contract, generating a combination of revenue streams. These included performance-linked availability payments and event-related income (commercial rents, sponsorship, ticket sales, food & beverage sales etc.). The Government of Singapore and InfraRed mutually agreed in 2022 to transfer the ownership of the facility and its operation to Sport Singapore, the Government Agency tasked with developing and implementing a holistic sports culture for the Singaporean Nation.
Initial investment / status
2010 / realised December 2022
Theme
Social & Transport Infrastructure
Strategy
Value-add
Country
Singapore
Singapore Sports Hub Key statistics
Impact
The development, design, financing, and operation of the Singapore Sports Hub was one of our largest and most complex development infrastructure projects at that time, undertaken by one of our value-add funds.
Our successful consortium bid of 2010 was the largest PPP in Singapore’s history. As such, the contract involved a greater number of investors, partners, subcontractors, and other stakeholders than usual.
The complex bidding process was further exacerbated by the global financial crisis – which extended the financial close period to the point where traditional sources of project finance were largely unavailable. Despite these challenges, we successfully arranged bank funding and secured the contract in the summer of 2010.
One of the key factors that differentiated our consortium bid was our long-standing partnership with the Bouygues Group, one of the world’s leading construction companies, who we have worked in partnership with for over 15 years.
Throughout the project, we managed a broad range of parties and demonstrated our experience in stakeholder management, event and facility oversight, financial structuring, and asset management – delivering a world-class sports, entertainment, and lifestyle hub creating ongoing value for all stakeholders.
The Sports Hub proved itself to be central to the Singapore sporting community. It hosted many major events both sporting and entertainment. It’s unique role in the community was demonstrated during the pandemic where it was repurposed to provide quarantine accommodation to a range of communities, including the foreign migrant workers whose accommodation had been severely impacted, during the height of the pandemic. As the surge passed, it was able to revert to its central role as a sports stadium and excelled itself as host venue for the 2021 Suzuki Cup – the first major sports event held in Singapore following the Covid outbreak.
