Mapletree, Arcapita In Real Estate JV

Source : The Business Times, July 2, 2008

Fund to hold $1.7b portfolio of industrial properties

MAPLETREE Investments has entered a joint venture with Arcapita Bank to form a private real estate fund called Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT). The fund will hold the $1.71 billion portfolio of high-rise, ready-built industrial properties acquired from JTC Corporation.

Sealing the partnership: Hiew Yoon Khong, CEO of Mapletree Investments (left) and Martin Tan, executive director, co-global head of real estate, Arcapita Bank, at the Toa Payoh North industrial estate

Mapletree will hold a 25.1 per cent stake in MIT, while Arcapita will hold 56.5 per cent. Mapletree Industrial Fund, a pan-Asian private real estate industrial fund sponsored by Mapletree, will own the rest.

'We will explore the possibility of listing this portfolio as a Reit in due course, possibly in combination with other Mapletree industrial assets,' Mapletree's CEO Hiew Yoon Khong said yesterday.

MIT took official control of the industrial properties yesterday. The portfolio comprises 39 blocks of flatted factories, 12 amenity centres, six stack-up buildings, one ramp-up building, three multi-tenanted business park buildings and one warehouse building. Mapletree's wholly owned subsidiary Mapletree Industrial Fund Management will manage the properties.

Mr Hiew said Arcapita's involvement as a joint-venture partner in MIT supports 'our view that this is a high quality portfolio of real estate'.

Headquartered in Bahrain, Arcapita provides syariah-compliant alternative investments and counts high net worth individuals and institutions among its investors. The bank opened its Singapore office in January.

'The properties in the portfolio are attractive and well-diversified in terms of tenancy, location and asset type, and are well placed to continue to perform strongly,' Mapletree and Arcapita said in a joint statement yesterday.

The partnership marks Arcapita's first major investment in South-east Asia and its first venture with Mapletree. 'The acquisition of this JTC portfolio, given its scale and quality, is an excellent start for Arcapita's Singapore office as we seek to increase our investments and presence across Asia,' said Arcapita CEO Atif Abdulmalik.