OUE Limited has formally announced that a 36-storey commercial building in Shanghai known as the Lippo Plaza will be injected into the proposed REIT known as the OUE Commercial Trust. This is in addition to the 18-storey office property in Singapore, OUE Bayfront. The injection of the Lippo Plaza brings the total number of initial properties in the REIT to two.

The OUE Bayfront in Singapore will be the flagship property of the OUE Commercial REIT

The Lippo Plaza is located at No. 222, Huaihai Zhong Road in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. OUE Commercial Trust has, on 16 October 2013, entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Lippo China Resources Limited for the acquisition of the building via shares of the company owning the building.

Lippo China Resources is a property developer listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and controlled by the Riady family of Indonesia – the same stakeholders of Singapore-based sponsor OUE Limited.

However OUE has reminded shareholders that there is no certainty as to whether the listing of the Proposed REIT will proceed and that its IPO will depend on, among other factors, market and economic conditions. The size, timeframe and terms of any offering to be made in respect of units in the proposed REIT are currently under review and have also not been decided and that a further announcement will be made when there are material developments.

News of the intent to list the OUE Commercial REIT came weeks after OUE Limited successfully debuted the OUE Hospitality Trust. There are indications that the firm is spinning off its properties in this region into a REIT as a form of capital recycling for acquisitions in the United States.