MapletreeInd (ME8U) rights issue soon?

There were recent reports that Mapletree Industrial (and Singapore GIC, too?)  is eyeing a portfolio of Australia building properties.

If successful, it will be Mapletree Industrial's first cash call since listed in October 2010.

All suitors have signed a confidentiality agreement to access documents relating to the assets, which are expected to go on the market after Christmas.


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source : The Australian newspaper

Fourteen parties, including the cashed-up Singapore-based Mapletree Industrial Trust, have expressed interest in $100 million worth of industrial assets owned by the former MacarthurCook Industrial Trust.

All groups have signed a confidentiality agreement to access documents relating to the assets, which are expected to go on the market after Christmas.

US-based Commonwealth REIT privatised the MacarthurCook trust when it bought the business last year.

Industry sources said other offshore groups interested in the assets could include Aviva, which has plans for an Australian logistics fund, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, which has been active in the market in the past two years. Boutique investment bank Investec also is said to be interested on behalf a South African investor.

Local investors could include 360 Capital Group, which still hopes to float an industrial vehicle, and perhaps Dexus Property Group, which has signalled it intends to increase its industrial portfolio.

One source suggested that, based on early indications of strong demand, the portfolio could fetch up to $120m.

Commonwealth REIT Australia's chief investment officer John Mannix confirmed plans to sell the portfolio of 10 buildings in NSW, Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria.

Mr Mannix said Commonwealth REIT had repositioned the assets after it acquired MacarthurCook, lifting average occupancy rates from about 80 per cent to more than 90 per cent.

"The buildings are leased to blue-chip tenants like Coles and Woolworths and General Electric," he said.

"We've decided to sell the industrial properties and to use the proceeds to invest in office properties to be consistent with the strategy in the US."

Sources say Commonwealth REIT could be a buyer of the Stockland-owned Exchange Plaza at The Esplanade in Perth. The 31-storey building with views over the Swan River went on the market a week ago, according to a source. The building was independently valued in June at $150m.

"We have come to understand that in Australia we have to look for off-market deals," Mr Mannix said. "In the US, most transactions are listed with agents and done on market."

Mr Mannix was the president and chief investment officer of the US-listed Commonwealth REIT before coming to Australia to guide the expansion of its Australian investment.

The business has bought a Sydney office tower from Investa Property Group at 320 Pitt Street for $193m. The plan is to expand Commonwealth REIT to a billion-dollar platform, and then list it on the ASX or in the US.

"We came to Australia because of the tremendous opportunities here as a result of its linkage with China and the resources boom and growth of this region," said Mr Mannix.

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