REIT Oracle

Lippo Malls Temporarily Closing 11 Malls to Fight Covid-19

Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust is announcing a temporary shutdown (except for essential services) of 11 retail malls within the Greater Jakarta region, Bandung and Bali, from March 27 to April 09.

While the local authorities have not explicitly imposed any regulations to direct the closure of the malls, the decision to close the malls was made in consideration of the Indonesian Government’s call to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus together with input from counterparts in the shopping mall industry. To date, more than 30 retail malls have closed or announced plans for temporary closure across Indonesia.

Rental fees will be suspended during the closure and will impact the trust Q2 income and distribution.

Eagle Hospitality Receives Notice of Default, Suspends Distribution Payout

The COVID-19 pandemic has badly hurt the hospitality sector and is creating serious troubles for Eagle Hospitality REIT, as one of its master lessees has skipped rent and triggered the repayment acceleration of a syndicated loan, resulting in the trust receiving a notice of default:

On behalf of the lenders, Bank of America exercised its right to accelerate the entirety of the loan. This means that the principal amount of US$341 million was declared to have become immediately due and owing, the managers said.

As a result, the distribution to unit holders is being cancelled:

Stapled security holders will also not receive the distribution of 3.478 US cents per security on the previously announced payment date of March 30, 2020. The distribution is for the period from EHT's listing date of May 24, 2019 to Dec 31, 2019.

Units which IPOed less than a year ago at US$0.78 are sharply down as of this writing at US$0.137.

United Hampshire US REIT Prices IPO at US$0.80

United Hampshire US REIT has announced pricing for its IPO at USD 0.80 per unit.

The public offer opens at 9am on March 4, and closes at noon on March 10. If all goes well, the Reit will list on March 12, 2020.

Tower REIT to Buy New Property

Tower REIT is planning to acquire from GuocoLand the Menara Guoco office tower for RM242.1 million. The 19 storey freehold tower is located in Kuala Lumpur and forms part the Damansara City integrated commercial development. The property is only 2 year old and has an occupancy of over 97%.

Funding is expected to be done fully through debt.

United Hampshire US REIT Files Prospectus for Singapore IPO

US REIT are becoming popular in Singapore as another entrant is aiming to IPO: United Hampshire US REIT owns 22 properties in the American east-coast, with 18 used for grocery stores and 4 for self-storage. The portfolio has a global occupancy of 95.2% and a long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) by base rental income of 8.4 years:

The Reit's two sponsors are UOB Global Capital, a subsidiary of UOB, and Hampshire US Holdco, a subsidiary of The Hampshire Companies.

The prospectus is available for download on MAS website.

Ascendas REIT Sells Changi Property

Ascendas REIT is announcing the sale of a two-storey ramp-up warehouse, No. 25 Changi South Street 1, in Singapore:

The proposed sale price of S$20.3 million is 14.0% higher than the original purchase price of S$17.8 million and 2.0% higher than the market valuation of the Property of S$19.9 million as at 31 December 2019. The Proposed Divestment is not expected to have any material effect on Ascendas Reit's net asset value and distribution per Unit for the financial year ending 31 December2020

Prime US REIT Acquires Sacramento Property

The manager of Prime US REIT is announcing the acquisition of Park Tower, an office building in Sacramento, California. The freehold property is a 24-storey Class A office with 5-storey of mixed us retail and parking. It comes with a high occupancy ratio of 92.2% and a WALE (by NLA) of 5.6 years.

The US$165.5 million purchase will be funded with the help of a private placement of about US$100 million, which will see the issuance of 129 million new units (an increase of 13% over existing base). The manager expects the complete operation to be DPU and NAV accretive.

Mapletree Logistics to Buy Kobe Property

Mapletree Logistics Trust is announcing the planned acquisition of an logistics centre in Kobe, Japan. The freehold property, completed last year, has a Net Lettable Area of 84,783 m², and occupancy rate of 99.7% and a WALE of 4.2 years.

The purchase price of about S$272.5 million (for a 98.47% interest) will be funded by debt, pushing the trust gearing to 39.0% (from 37.1%).

Dasin Retail Trust Shortening Mall's Opening Hours

Dasin Retail Trust has announced that they'll shorten the opining hours of their five malls to help fight the current coronavirus epidemic in China.

Sasseur Outlet Malls Temporarily Closed

Sasseur REIT is closing down its outlet malls as a temporary precautionary measure in response to the coronavirus epidemic currently developing in China. No re-opening dates have been announced yet.