MLT' s private placement priced at S$1.88 per unit preferential offering at S$1.84 per unit

MAPLETREE Logistics Trust on Wednesday priced its private placement and preferential offering at S$1.88 and S$1.84 per unit, respectively.

Total gross proceeds of the fundraising exercise will be some S$692.8 million, comprising S$400 million from the private placement and S$292.8 million from the preferential offering.

Some 97.5 per cent or S$675.5 million of the gross proceeds will be used to fund these acquisitions, while 2.5 per cent or S$17.3 million will be used to pay for fees and expenses in connection with the acquisitions and equity fundraising.

Some 212.8 million new units will be issued under the private placement while 159.1 million new units will be issued under the preferential offering.

In connection with the private placement, the manager intends to declare an advanced distribution for the period from Oct 1 to Dec 2. The distribution per existing unit is currently estimated to be between S$0.0145 to S$0.0147. A further announcement on the actual quantum will be made in due course, the manager noted.

The private placement issue price of S$1.88 per new unit came in at the lower end of the price range. It represents a discount of 2.8 per cent to the adjusted volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of S$1.9339 per unit, for trades done on the preceding market day on Nov 22 up to the time the underwriting agreement was entered, minus the estimated advanced distribution of S$0.0146 per unit.

It is also a 3.5 per cent discount to the VWAP of S$1.9485 per unit for all trades done on the Singapore Exchange Nov 22.

According to the trust manager, the placement was oversubscribed and saw good participation from new and existing institutional, accredited and other investors.

The preferential offering issue price of S$1.84 per new unit was around the mid-point of the indicated price range. It represents a discount of 4.9 per cent to the adjusted VWAP of S$1.9339 per unit and 5.6 per cent to the VWAP of S$1.9485 per unit.


 

The China acquisitions will deepen MLT' s presence in the region which will now see 43 assets in 29 cities. The scarcity of grade-A warehouses in the China market as well as the location of the properties in close proximity to large population catchments bring key benefits to unitholders, the manager noted.

" The enlarged portfolio allows MLT to offer tenants a multi-city network of warehouse facilities, positioning MLT to be the preferred partner for fast-growing tenants looking to build presence across the country," the manager said.

Vietnam is also a beneficiary of the structural trend of supply chain diversification, with competitive costs and an attractive investment environment.

The manager added: " With rising consumption, an expanding middle-income urban population and strong e-commerce adoption rate, demand for quality logistics space is expected to remain robust, while supply of Grade-A logistics space remains limited."

Meanwhile, the Japan Property to be acquired is a freehold, 5-storey dry logistics facility with a gross floor area of over 1.7 million square feet. It is located within an established industrial and logistics cluster in Greater Nagoya, and is in close proximity to Nagoya City, Nagoya Port and Centrair Airport, as well as the ShinMeishin Expressway.

Chief executive officer of the manager, Ng Kiat said that the acquisitions in China and Vietnam will expand MLT' s network connectivity in those large growing consumer markets while the acquisition in Japan will scale up MLT' s presence in Greater Nagoya, an attractive logistics market strategically located between Greater Tokyo and Greater Osaka.

" The pandemic has highlighted the importance of logistics and placed a greater emphasis on supply chain resiliency, fuelling demand for modern logistics space," she added.

 

The trust on Nov 23 proposed an equity fundraising of new units in MLT to raise gross proceeds of about  S$700  million. Some  S$675.5 million of the amount will be used to fund the acquisitions, while  S$24.5  million will be used to pay for fees and expenses in connection with  the acquisitions and  equity fundraising. 

The fundraising  includes  a  private placement  of  between 209.3 million and  215.1 million  new units at an issue price of between S$1.86  and S$1.911 per new unit, to raise gross proceeds of approximately S$400  million. This represents a  volume-weighted average price (VWAP) discount  of  1.2 per  cent  and 3.8 per cent  to the adjusted VWAP  of S$1.9339 per  unit respectively.

A non-renounceable preferential offering of up to 163.4 new  units to existing eligible  unitholders at an issue price of between S$1.82 and S$1.87 per new  unit is also proposed  to raise gross proceeds of about S$300  million. This represents a  1.9 per cent  and a 4.5 per cent discount respectively  to the VWAP of S$1.9485 per unit  of all trades on  the Singapore Exchange  for the preceding market day  on Nov  22. 

DBS, HSBC Singapore  and OCBC have been appointed as the joint global coordinators  and bookrunners for the fundraising. 

 

Mapletree Logistics Trust to acquire logistics assets worth S$1.4b in China, Vietnam and Japan

MAPLETREE Logistics Trust (MLT) is acquiring a portfolio of 17 grade-A logistics assets with an average age of 1.6 years in China, Vietnam and Japan for a combined total value of S$1.4 billion.

In a bourse filing on Tuesday (Nov 23), the manager said that proposed acquisitions of 13 properties located in China, through subsidiaries of Mapletree Investments and a subsidiary of Itochu Corporation, amounts to S$870 million, while acquisitions of 3 properties in Vietnam, through the subsidiary of Mapletree Investments, is S$129.9 million.

Separately, the manager also announced the proposed acquisition of an effective 97 per cent in the trust beneficial interest of Kuwana Logistics Centre located in Japan. The acquisition is from an unrelated third party vendor at an agreed property value of S$416.3 million. The remaining 3 per cent effective interest in the property will be held by Mapletree Investments Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of MLT.

The 13 new assets  in China will be  acquired  for 1.15  billion yuan (S$243.6 million) in cash, while the remaining amount  will be inter-company loans worth 1.77 billion yuan  that MLT will pay  through cash and new units,  as well as 1.24 billion yuan in bank loans. For Vietnam' s properties, US$14.4  million will be satisfied in cash, while the rest will be an undertaking of inter-company loans. Whereas for  the new Japanese property, which  comes at  a discount of about 1.7 per cent  to the independent valuation, will be paid for fully in cash. 

The trust on Nov 23 proposed an equity fundraising of new units in MLT to raise gross proceeds of about  S$700  million. Some  S$675.5 million of the amount will be used to fund the acquisitions, while  S$24.5  million will be used to pay for fees and expenses in connection with  the acquisitions and  equity fundraising.