MapleTree – BT

MapletreeLog to invest in Japan centre

$92 million deal on distribution centre in Kanto region due to be completed in ’08

MAPLETREE Logistics Trust is investing $92 million in a distribution centre in the Kanto region of Japan.

Announcing this yesterday, Mapletree Logistics Trust Management (MLTM), the manager of the trust, said that MapletreeLog, through its wholly owned subsidiary, has executed a conditional agreement eventually to acquire the beneficiary interest of the distribution centre, which is now under construction.

Completion of the acquisition is expected to be some time next year.

The deal will be accretive to MapletreeLog’s distribution per unit (DPU) and the pro forma financial effect of the acquisition on the DPU for the financial year ended December 2006 would be an additional 0.16 Singapore cent per unit, MLTM said.

MLTM chief executive officer Chua Tiow Chye said: ‘We are very pleased with this acquisition, our seventh property in Japan. This property is located in one of the key logistics zones in the Kanto region and will be leased to a tenant from a leading Japanese manufacturing group. With a lease tenure of 20 years, this will bolster our core base of long leases with stable yield and recurrent rental income.

‘This will complement the shorter-term leases in our portfolio in higher- growth markets such as China, Malaysia and Hong Kong.’

Given the relatively lower cost of borrowing in Japanese yen, the trust said it intends to fund the acquisition wholly by debt.

As at June 30, MapletreeLog has a portfolio of 58 logistics assets in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Japan with a total book value of about $2.1 billion.