Sheng Siong: negligent, predatory, or both

Local supermarket chain Sheng Siong will raise rents at five wet markets by 30% next month; the chain had acquired the wet markets in late-2009. What drew my attention was this line:

Sheng Siong said it had no choice but to increase rental rates, as it had to pay bank interest fees, property tax and maintenance fees after buying over the five wet markets for about S$25 million.

I believe "bank interest fees, property tax and maintenance fees" are part and parcel of a major transaction like purchasing five wet markets. So I can only offer two possibilities: first, Sheng Siong did not do their due dilligence and neglected to calculate their costs properly, and intends to pass their mistakes on to the tenants. And unlikely scenario at best.

Second, Sheng Siong had intended to do this all along, profiting handsomely for it, and maybe cause enough tenants to close shop so they can build a supermarket in its place. This sounds like a likelier scenario.

So either Seng Siong is negligent, or predatory. Might be a little bit of both. But neither makes them look good, and it sure does not make our tolerance of conflict of interest look good.