Mapletree Commercial Trust property, VivoCity. (Photo: Mapletree Commercial Trust)

Unitholders of Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the merger that will create the Mapletree Pan Asia commercial Trust (MPACT).

At separate extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) on 23 May, more than 90% of unitholders from both MCT and MNACT approved all resolutions that would result in the merger.

These include previously controversial resolutions that would issue cash payments or MCT units to MNACT unitholders as considerations for the merger.

MPACT will be one of the top 10 largest REITs in Asia, with a market capitalisation of about SGD10.5 billion.

It will also be the third largest REIT in Singapore after CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) and Ascendas REIT.

Related: Sharon Lim to be CEO of Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust

“Our biggest responsibility is to execute the “4R” asset and capital management strategy when the merger is completed”, said Sharon Lim, CEO-designate of the new REIT.

“The enlarged scale and stronger financial muscles of MPACT will enable us to undertake capital recycling opportunities, take on value-enhancing asset enhancement and development initiatives, and pursue larger acquisitions in Asia’s key gateway markets”, she noted.

“With a diversified and high quality portfolio across Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, China, Japan and South Korea, of which best-in-class assets constitute approximately 67% of the merged portfolio, we believe we can deliver”, Lim added.

Related: Mapletree Commercial Trust sees SGD17.7 million in institutional funds inflow

MCT and MNACT were halted from trading on the SGX on 23 May pending results from the respective EGMs.

At their last done price of SGD1.81 and SGD1.20, the implied distribution yields of MCT and MNACT are currently at 5.27% and 5.68% respectively according to data on the Singapore REITs table.

By Ridzwan Rahmat

Ridzwan has been analysing REITs and business trusts since 2008, and personally manages a portfolio comprising mainly of SGX-listed REITs. He founded REITsWeek in 2013.