SINGAPORE (Feb 28): The manager of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, FCT Holdings (Sigma), will be acquiring a 17.13% stake in PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund for a consideration of $342.5 million.
FCT will be acquiring 90,346 shares in PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund from some of its shareholders in 12 conditional sale and purchase agreements.
PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund is an open-end private investment vehicle that was incorporate in Bermuda and is currently the largest non-listed retail mall fund in Singapore. It owns and manages six retail malls – Tiong Bahru Plaza, White Sands, Liang Court, Hougang Mall, Century Square and Tampines 1; an office property – Central Plaza; as well as four retail malls in Malaysia.
PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund is currently managed by PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment business of PGIM Inc, a global investment management business of Prudential Financial.
In a filing posted on Thursday, the manager said that FCT unitholders can expect to enjoy higher distribution per unit (DPU) following this acquisition.
The acquisition will be funded through a combination of debt and equity financing. For purposes of completion certainty, the manager will be arranging for bridge loan facilities to fully fund the acquisition.
Assuming that the acquisition is fully funded by debt, the group’s pro forma gearing would be 36.3% as at Sept 30, 2018, and pro forma DPU would rise to 12.443 cents from 12.015 cents for the 12 months to Sept 30.
Units in FCT closed at $2.29 on Thursday.
