Mapletree Commercial Trust to sell new units to fund acquisition

Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) plans to raise about S$1.02 billion to partially fund its acquisition of the office and business park components of Mapletree Business City (Phase 1), IFR reported on Tuesday (26 July) as cited in media reports.
The Singapore real estate invest trust (REIT) plans to issue via a private placement 384.9 million new units at an indicative price range of S$1.41 to S$1.45 each to raise a minimum of S$514.5 million.
MCT also intends to offer 362.8 million units through preferential offering to holders of existing units at a price of S$1.39 to S$1.43 apiece to raise no less than S$504.3 million. This brings the total value of the combined deals is at S$1.02 billion.
The trust announced the proposed acquisition of the office and business components of Mapletree Business City (Phase 1) on 5 July in a deal valued at S$1.78 billion.
In a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday (26 July), MCT reported an increase in its distribution per unit which stood at 2.03 cents, up one percent from 2.01 cents year-on-year. This was attributed to the REIT’s higher rental income from portfolio properties.
The trust’s net property income for the three months to 30 June was up 3.7 percent from the previous year to S$56.3 million, while gross revenue rose 5.2 percent to S$73.4 million.
“In spite of persisting weaknesses in the retail and office market as well as heightened economic and financial volatilities, our continued focus on active asset management has yielded good results,” the trust manager’s chief executive officer Sharon Lim said.
Nikki De Guzman, Editor at CommercialGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg

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