A Summary of Mapletree Logistics Trust’s EGM on 23 November 2020 (guest post)
Blue chip logistics REIT Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX:M44U) held its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) yesterday afternoon to seek unitholders’ approval on the proposed acquisition of 22 properties in China, along with 1 property in Malaysia as well as in Vietnam. Approval was also sought for its proposed issue of new units of the REIT as partial consideration for its China acquisitions, and also for the proposed whitewash resolution.
This post was originally posted here. The writer, Lim Jun Yuan is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with a username known as @ljunyuan and has 1442 followers.
Due to the safe distancing measures imposed by the Singapore government (due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic), the EGM was held in a hybrid mode – both online as well as offline (limited spaces available.) I have opted to attend the online version of the meeting as a unitholder and in this post, you’ll find a key summary of it, which I’ve compiled for the benefit of those who weren’t able to attend…
Presentation by Chief Executive Officer, Ms Ng Kiat
- The following are details of the acquisition:
- Acquisition of the remaining 50.0% stake in 15 warehouses in China, a 100.0% stake in 7 warehouses in China, 1 warehouse in Malaysia and also in Vietnam
- Aggregate Agreed Property Value: S$1,509.2 million
- Implied Net Property Income yield: ~5.2%
- Net Lettable Area: 1,223,660 sqm
- Committed occupancy rate: 94.7%
- Weighted average lease expiry: 2.3 years
- CEO of Mapletree Logistics Trust, Ms Ng Kiat, shared that the logistics industry have benefited from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, where demand for Grade A warehouse space have increased as a result of an increase in adoption of e-commerce.
- She explained that 3 geographical locations which the REIT will be acquiring properties in (China, Malaysia, and Vietnam) have seen their GDPs staying resilient despite the pandemic. Also, these countries are also projected to see a strong growth in their urban population in the years ahead (which will lead to an increase in demand for modern logistics space.) Coupled with the limited supply of Grade A warehouse space in the 3 countries, Ms Ng added that represents an opportunity for the REIT, being a leading provider of quality logistics space in Asia-Pacific, to come in and fill the market gap.
- On top of that, Ms Ng also shared that the warehouses’ locations are strategically located near local consumption hubs in under an hour, which is an important consideration for tenants in e-commerce businesses. Not just that, post-acquisition, the REIT will see new top 10 tenants (by percentage of gross revenue) in JD.com… (which will contribute 2.4%) and Cainiao (which will contribute 2.1%.)