MapleTree – SGX
MAPLETREELOG ACQUIRES SINGAPORE PROPERTY FOR S$15.2 MILLION
Singapore, 21 September 2007 – Mapletree Logistics Trust Management Ltd. (“MLTM”), Manager of Mapletree Logistics Trust (“MapletreeLog”), is pleased to announce that MapletreeLog, through its Trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited, has signed a Put and Call Option Agreement to acquire a warehouse in Singapore for a total consideration of about S$15.2 million.
The vendor of the property, located at 10 Tuas Avenue 13, Singapore 638983, is Pioneer Districentre Pte Ltd (“Pioneer”), which will lease back the property for 7 years, with an option to extend for a further 7 years. The acquisition will be accretive to MapletreeLog’s distribution per unit (“DPU”). The pro forma financial effect of the acquisition on the DPU for the financial year ended 31 December 2006 is an additional 0.04 Singapore cents per unit1.
Rationale for the acquisition
Mr. Chua Tiow Chye, Chief Executive Officer of MLTM, said, “We are very pleased with this acquisition from Pioneer. The property is located within a cluster of light industrial and logistics facilities and is easily accessible to other parts of Singapore via Ayer Rajah Expressway and Pan Island Expressway. We are delighted to welcome Pioneer to our family of tenants. This accretive asset adds to the Trust’s stable core of Singapore properties, which will generate long-term and stable returns for unitholders. Furthermore, given the tight supply situation for high quality logistics real-estate in good locations, rentals and capital values are expected to remain firm.”
The principal activities of the Pioneer are those of container storage, container repair and engineering work, transportation, warehousing and related services. Colliers International, in its May 2007 “Asia Pacific Industrial Market Overview”, highlighted the industry-friendly tax incentives as well as the strong demand coupled with tightening supply as the main factors that will generate and underpin demand for warehouse space in Singapore.
Funding
The acquisition is expected to be completed by 4Q 2007. T he Manager is confident that at its completion, MapletreeLog will have sufficient debt capacity to fund the acquisition wholly by debt. However, this does not preclude the Manager from exploring alternative means of funding should the need arise.
General Description of the property
The property is a 5-storey warehouse facility with ancillary office at Tuas Avenue, Singapore. The sales and leaseback arrangement with Pioneer will include the existing building of GFA of 10,822 sqm and a proposed extension of approximately 2,521 sqm of additional GFA. The expected commencement date of the proposed extension is 4Q 2007 and the completion date is expected to be end of 4Q 2008. This acquisition for a total consideration of S$15.2 million takes into account of the proposed extension area. The property has been valued at S$15.7 million by CKS Property Consultants Pte Ltd, dated 31st July 2007.
1 Assuming MapletreeLog has purchased, held and operated the property for the financial year ended 31 December 2006 (based on 41 properties) and that the acquisition is 100% debt-funded.
Source : SGX
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.
CitySpring – BT
CitySpring sees its DPU rising 16.7% with Basslink acquisition
Long-term regular revenues expected to give 7 cents DPU in next financial year ending March 2009
THE acquisition of Basslink in Australia is expected to raise CitySpring Infrastructure Trust’s distribution per unit (DPU) to 7 cents on an annualised basis for the next financial year ending March 2009, CitySpring Infrastructure Management (CSIM), the trustee-manager of CitySpring, said yesterday.
This is a 16.7 per cent increase from the projected DPU of 6 cents for the current financial year ending March 2008.
The acquisition of Basslink, which is an electricity interconnector between the island of Tasmania and mainland Australia, was completed at the end of August.
Calling it a ‘high-quality and unique asset’, CSIM said Basslink is expected to provide long-term, regular and predictable revenues derived from a 25-year contract with Hydro Tasmania, the electricity generating company wholly owned by the state of Tasmania.
Since commercial operations began in April 2006, Basslink has achieved an average availability of 99.5 per cent. Revenue from Basslink is largely based on availability of the interconnector and other guaranteed payments, and is not dependent on the utilisation rate.
Said Fai Au Yeung, CEO of CSIM: ‘We are pleased with the progress we have made with this acquisition. This is a significantly yield- accretive transaction and perfectly fits our investment mandate of acquiring projects with long-term predictable cashflows.’
Mr Fai said part of Basslink’s revenues are indexed to increase with inflation. ‘In addition, there is upside from possible telecommunications revenue associated with the commercialisation of the fibre optic cable incorporated in Basslink as well as from an enhancement of the asset life through additional capex. We intend to explore these opportunities to fully extract the value of this asset.’
Funding for the Basslink acquisition has been obtained through the issue of bonds and bridge financing. The Australian-dollar non-recourse bonds, guaranteed by MBIA Insurance Corporation, are rated AAA and Aaa by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s respectively. An equity bridge facility for S$370 million has been also been obtained as part of the financing package.
CitySpring intends to repay the bridge financing with funds raised from an equity issue.
Parent group Temasek Holdings supports the transaction and intends to participate in the equity issue, CSIM said.
An extraordinary general meeting will be called to seek unitholders’ approval to ratify the acquisition and the related equity fund raising