02 Dec 2021
SINGAPORE, 2 DECEMBER 2021
Frasers Logistics & Commercial Asset Management Pte. Ltd., the manager of Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (“FLCT”, and the manager of FLCT, the “REIT Manager”), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with an unrelated third-party purchaser, for the sale of a leasehold property at 2-24 Douglas Street, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (the “Property”) for a consideration of A$42.5 million (approximately S$41.7 million) (the “Consideration”).
The Consideration represents a significant premium to both the Property’s book value of A$21.0 million (approximately S$20.6 million) as at 30 September 2021 and the original purchase price of A$21.7 million (approximately S$21.3 million) at FLCT’s initial public offering in 2016. The proposed divestment of this non-core leasehold property is also in line with the REIT Manager’s proactive asset management and portfolio rebalancing strategies.
Mr. Robert Wallace, Chief Executive Officer of the REIT Manager, said, “This proposed divestment of our leasehold property at Port Melbourne is transacted at an attractive premium over its book value. It is a timely divestment that resonates well with our strategy to realise value from non-core properties. The divestment will also provide us with greater financial strength and flexibility.”
The estimated net proceeds from the divestment is approximately A$38.5 million (approximately S$37.7 million), after taking into account divestment fees of A$0.2 million[3] (approximately S$0.2 million) to be paid to the REIT Manager as well as other divestment and tax related expenses. The net divestment proceeds may be used for funding potential acquisition opportunities, reducing existing debt and/or other general corporate purposes.
The proposed divestment is expected to be completed by the first half of 2022.
About the Property
The Property is located at the eastern side of Douglas Street, a well-regarded industrial precinct located in the Melbourne city fringe suburb of Port Melbourne. It is well-located, being approximately five kilometres from the central business district, with good access to local arterial road transport networks. Comprising two industrial buildings that were completed in two stages over 2005 and 2007, the Property has a total lettable area of 21,803 sq m.
For the year ended 30 September 2021, the Property accounted for 0.7% of FLCT’s net property income. As of 30 September 2021, the Property accounted for approximately 0.3% of FLCT’s portfolio value.
Notes:
[1] Based on the valuation by CIVAS (VIC) Pty Ltd as at 30 September 2021. The property value including the right-of-use asset as at 30 September 2021 is A$40.3 million
[2] Unless otherwise stated, the S$ equivalent of the A$ figures in this press release have been arrived at based on an assumed exchange rate of A$1:S$0.98
[3] The divestment fee is 0.5% of the Consideration and is payable to the REIT Manager pursuant to the trust deed dated 30 November 2015 constituting FLCT (as amended and supplemented)