Mapletree buys $68m warehouse

The warehouse in Japan has a property yield of 7.26%

MAPLETREE Logistics Trust acquired its ninth piece of property – a warehouse – in Japan for about $68 million, announced its managers, Mapletree Logistics Trust Management Ltd (MLTM), yesterday.

The warehouse has a property yield of 7.26 per cent, higher than the implied property yield of its existing Japan portfolio of 4.5 per cent.

Based on the actual nine-month financial results for 2009, the proforma financial effect of the acquisition on the annualised distribution per unit is an additional 0.103 cents or 1.75 per cent, assuming a unit price of 69 cents.

The warehouse, which is located in Chiba on freehold land, is leased to a major Japanese multinational corporation.

‘We are very pleased with the acquisition of this property, which is located in a popular logistics hub for in-land distribution for the Kanto region,’ said Chua Tiow Chye, chief executive officer of MLTM.

‘We continue to find the Japan logistics market attractive due to its breadth and depth which is currently unmatched in Asia. We will continue to expand our portfolio in Japan by selectively acquiring yield-accretive logistics assets of good quality and location.’

The acquisition, which will be fully funded by debt, is expected to be completed in Q1 2010, and brings Mapletree’s Japan portfolio to about 43 billion yen in value.

In November, the trust launched a private placement of 115 million new units to raise up to $82 million in order to create debt headroom for the funding of the acquisition.

The private placement had been launched in order to finance two local acquisitions – a six-storey warehouse in the west of Singapore and a multi-storey warehouse in the east of Singapore, for about $43 million and $34 million, respectively.

These acquisitions are expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Mapletree’s latest logistics play in Japan comes on the back of an announcement by its sponsor , Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, that it had signed a memorandum of understanding on a joint venture with Itochu Corporation to develop logistics facilities in Japan, earlier this month.

Source: Business Times, 29 Dec 2009