Singapore-listed office real estate investment trust Keppel REIT (SGX:K71U) announced on 16 December that it has completed the acquisition of a one-third interest in Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3.
Plans for the SGD1.25 billion acquisition was first announced on 18 September 2014. The REIT also revealed on 15 December that it will be issuing 152,213,000 new units to Keppel Land as partial consideration for the acquisition.
MBFC Tower 3 is a 46-storey office tower in Singapore comprising of over 1.34 million square feet of net lettable area. The building is occupied by a diversified tenant base including DBS Bank, WongPartnership, Rio Tinto, Booking.com, McGraw-Hill, Mead Johnson and Lego.
With the induction of MBFC Tower 3, Keppel REIT’s portfolio now consist of interests in nine office assets with 12 office towers across Singapore and Australia.
In Singapore, the assets are Bugis Junction Towers, a one-third interest in Marina Bay Financial Centre (comprising office Towers 1, 2 & 3 and the subterranean mall, Marina Bay Link Mall), a one-third interest in One Raffles Quay and a 99.9% interest in Ocean Financial Centre.
The assets in Australia are a 50% interest in 8 Chifley Square and the office tower at 77 King Street, both in Sydney, a 50% interest in the office building at 8 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, a 50% interest in 275 George Street in Brisbane, as well as a 50% interest in the new office tower to be built on the site of the Old Treasury Building in Perth.
“The addition of MBFC Tower 3 will strengthen Keppel REIT’s position as the leading landlord of Premium Grade A office buildings in Singapore’s business and financial district”, said the REIT in an official release on the induction, adding that the acquisition has improved its overall portfolio age to approximately five years.
“Keppel REIT will continue to proactively optimise and enhance its portfolio so as to provide unitholders income stability and resilience over the longer term”, it added.
Units of Keppel REIT are currently listed on the Singapore Exchange at SGD1.19.
