S-REITs: What have they been buying and selling?

The past week was a brutal week for the stock markets and S-Reits in general.

While retail investors are obsessed with the sell down of stocks, some of the S-Reits in recent times, have also been busy (buying and selling properties).

Below are the recent news I have collated (in alphabetical order).

1) AIMS APAC Reit: On 9 Oct 2020, AIMS APAC REIT completed the acquisition of a four-storey warehouse in western Singapore’s Jurong district for S$129.6 million ($94.4 million) (Read here)

2) Ascendas REIT: On 21 Sept 2020, Ascendas Reit has bought a suburban office building development in Sydney from Frasers Property Industrial and Winten Property for A$167.2m. Located at 1 Giffnock Avenue in Macquarie Park, the property will be developed on a 3,308 sq.m. site and feature 19,384 sq.m. of net lettable area once completed in 2022. (Read here)

3) ARA Logos Log: On 26 Oct 2020, ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust announced the $404.4m proposed acquisition consisting of:
i. S$225.9m(2) in respect of five logistics properties in Australia including a development asset; and
ii. S$178.5m(4) in respect of a 49.5% interest in New LAIVS Trust and 40.0% interest in Oxford Property Fund. (Read here)

4) CDL Hospitality Trusts: On 21 Oct 2020, CDLHT announced that it is selling its 4.5-star hotel Novotel Brisbane in Australia for A$67.9 million (S$66.4 million) to an independent third-party buyer, ADFA Brisbane.

The sale price is 6.9 per cent higher than the original purchase price of A$63.5 million on Feb 18, 2010, and represents a 0.6 per cent premium to the independent valuation of A$67.5 million as at Aug 31, 2020. (Read here)

5) Elite Commercial REIT: On 19 Oct 2020, Elite Commercial REIT announced that it has entered into a conditional share purchase agreement to acquire 58 commercial buildings across the UK.

It will be executed by acquiring the share capitals of two special purpose vehicles from Elite Bushel Holding Limited, a subsidiary of Elite UK Commercial Fund II – the REIT’s sponsor.

The acquisition consideration is GBP212.5 million (USD275 million) on a willing-buyer and willing-seller basis, taking into account independent valuations from Colliers International and BNP Paribas Real Estate.

This marks the REIT’s first acquisition since its listing on Singapore Exchange (SGX) in February 2020. (Read here)

6) Frasers Centrepoint Trust: On 3 Sept 2020, FCT proposed to raise up to $1.39 billion in equity to fund its acquisition of the remaining 63.1 per cent of AsiaRetail Fund for $1.06 billion.

AsiaRetail Fund owns five malls in Singapore – Tiong Bahru Plaza, White Sands, Hougang Mall, Century Square and Tampines 1 – as well as one office property, Central Plaza.

If the acquisition goes through, FCT’s retail properties in its portfolio will increase from seven to 11, and its net lettable area will expand by about 64 per cent to 2.3 million sq ft. This places FCT among the largest suburban retail mall owners in Singapore.
FCT’s portfolio size will increase to approximately $6.65 billion, from $3.96 billion.(Read here)

7) IREIT Global: IREIT Global on 19 Oct 2020 concluded an oversubscribed rights issue, raising some S$142.8 million to finance the acquisition of properties in Spain and repay a loan from City Developments Limited (CDL).

Part of the proceeds will be used to acquire the remaining 60 per cent of four freehold multi-tenanted office buildings located in Spain’s Madrid and Barcelona, from Tikehau. These properties are already 40 per cent owned by IReit.

The purchase price for the stake acquisition is estimated at 47.8 million euros (S$77 million), the IReit manager said in its Sept 18 filing. This was derived based on the consolidated net asset value of the joint venture that holds the Spain properties and adjusted based on the properties’ agreed market value. (Read here)

8) Lendlease Global Commercial Reit: On 1 Oct 2020, it was announced that LENDLEASE Global Commercial Reit has acquired a stake in Jem shopping mall, through a 5 per cent stake in Lendlease Asian Retail Investment Fund 3 at a purchase consideration of around S$45 million. (Read here)

9) Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust: LMIRT on 18 Sept 2020 proposed to raise $280 million through a non-underwritten renounceable rights issue to partly finance its planned acquisition of Lippo Mall Puri. (Read here)

10) Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust: Manulife US Reit on 28 Oct 2020 morning said it has completed its purchase of a Class A office building in Sacramento, California.

The pure-play US office Reit had announced the US$198.8 million acquisition of 400 Capitol Mall in September 2020.

Located in Sacramento’s central business district, the freehold 29-storey property has a net lettable area of 500,662 sq ft. It also has an occupancy rate of 94.9 per cent with 44 tenants, and a weighted average lease expiry of 5.9 years. (Read here)

11) Mapletree Logistics Trust: MLT announced on 19 Oct 2020 that it is seeking to acquire nine logistics properties in China, Malaysia and Vietnam, and also the remaining 50 per cent interest in 15 properties in China for a total of $1.09 billion. (Read here)

12) Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust: On 9 Oct 2020, it was announced that Suntec Reit manager is looking to acquire a half stake in London’s Nova development from Canada’s pension fund, based on an agreed property value of £430.6 million (S$766.5 million).

The Nova estate is located in London’s prime West End business district, bounded by Victoria Street, Bressenden Place and Buckingham Palace Road and just opposite major railway station Victoria Station. Landmark attractions nearby include Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

The development consists of two Grade A office blocks with ancillary retail – Nova North and Nova South – as well as The Nova Building, a primarily residential asset. (Read here)