Research from SooChow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia), SCCM Asia Research

SCCM Asia Research

Research from SooChow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia)

Headquartered in Singapore, SooChow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia) is an investment bank focusing on emerging growth companies across Asia, providing a full suite of investment banking services, including corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions advisory, equity capital markets, institutional equities sales and trading and equities research.

SooChow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia)

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<h2>Singapore</h2>SREITs results in a glance (see detailed spreadsheet and calendar attached)<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/237/629/original/image_32975221321635260585172.png?1635260588" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="237629"></figure><h3><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/keppel-reit" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:192" rel="noopener">Keppel REIT (KREIT SP)</a> 3Q21 Business Updates – Robust growth from acquisitions, healthy occupancy and collections</h3><ul><li>9M21 revenue and NPI increased by 34.8% and 36.8% YoY to S$162.2m (74.8% of BB est.) and S$129.4m (75.0% of BB est.), respectively. 9M21 DI was up 20.8% YoY to S$159.9m (83.3% of BB est.), mainly due to contributions from Victoria Police Centre, Pinnacle Office Park and Keppel Bay Tower. The increase in DI was partially offset by the impact of the divestment of 275 George Street in Jul21</li></ul>

SingaporeSREITs results in a glance (see detailed spreadsheet and calendar attached)Keppel REIT (KREIT SP) 3Q21 Business Updates – Robust growth from acquisitions, healthy occupancy and collections9M21 revenue and NPI increased by 34.8% and 36.8% YoY to S$162.2m (74.8% of BB est.) and S$129.4m (75.0% of BB est.), respectively. 9M21 DI was up 20.8% YoY to S$159.9m (83.3% of BB est.), mainly due to contributions from Victoria Police Centre, Pinnacle Office Park and Keppel Bay Tower. The increase in DI was partially offset by the impact of the divestment of 275 George Street in Jul21

<h2>Singapore</h2>
<h3>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/esr-reit" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10934" rel="noopener">ESR-REIT (EREIT SP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ara-logos-logistics-trust" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:937" rel="noopener">ARA LOGOS (ALLT SP)</a> proposed merger to form ESR-LOGOS REIT; DPU accretive for both unitholders</h3>
<ul>
<li>The proposed merger will be effected by way of a Trust Scheme with EREIT acquiring all units of ALLT in exchange for a combination of cash and new units in EREIT. The merger is conditional upon, inter alia, the completion of ESR Cayman (“ESR” or the “Sponsor”) and ARA Asset Management’s merger. ALLT unitholders will receive a scheme consideration of S$0.95 for each ALLT unit comprising 1) the payment of S$0.095 in cash per ALLT unit and the allotment and issue of 1.6765 new EREIT units for each ALLT unit, issued at S$0.51. The total consideration for the proposed merger is ~S$1.4bn based on the Scheme Consideration of S$0.95 for each ALLT unit. Upon completion, the enlarged REIT will be renamed ESR-LOGOS REIT (E-LOG)</li>
<li>Post-merger, E-LOG will continue to be managed by EREIT manager. The shareholding structure of E-LOG will be: Summit Group (12.7%), ESR (10.9%), and public (76.4%). The merger also removes any potential overlapping mandate between EREIT and ALLT</li>
<li>From EREIT’s perspective, the merger is expected to be +5.8% DPU accretive on FY20 proforma basis and -6.4% NAV dilutive. From ALLT perspective, the merger is +8.2% DPU accretive on FY20 proforma basis and +2.2% NAV accretive as well</li>
<li>The effects of the merger: 1) Total assets will rise to 87 properties (S$5.4bn) with 2.2m sqft NLA and 437 tenants; 2) ~66% of portfolio exposure is in the new economy (logistics and hi-tech); 3) Rising occupancy to 94.5% (from 91.7%); 4) Increased WALE to 3.2yrs (from 2.8yrs); 5) Extend land lease expiry to 37.9yrs (from 31yrs); 6) lower cost of debt to 2.84% (from 3.24%) with longer WADE; and 7) +1.6x larger debt headroom</li>
<li>Unitholders’ approval for EREIT is required for both merger and issuance of units (&gt;50% of total number votes), while approval for ALLT are required for the scheme (&gt;50% in numbers, &gt;75% in value) and amendment of deed (&gt;=75%). Ivanhoe Cambridge Asia (holder of 8.74% of ALLT) has given an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour of all resolutions</li>
<li>EREIT is trading at 1.17x P/B and 6.7% FY21E yield, while ALLT is trading at 1.39x P/B and 5.5% FY21E yield</li>
<li>The financing scheme and timeline is detailed on table below (illustrative purpose).</li>
</ul>

Singapore

ESR-REIT (EREIT SP) and ARA LOGOS (ALLT SP) proposed merger to form ESR-LOGOS REIT; DPU accretive for both unitholders

The proposed merger will be effected by way of a Trust Scheme with EREIT acquiring all units of ALLT in exchange for a combination of cash and new units in EREIT. The merger is conditional upon, inter alia, the completion of ESR Cayman (“ESR” or the “Sponsor”) and ARA Asset Management’s merger. ALLT unitholders will receive a scheme consideration of S$0.95 for each ALLT unit comprising 1) the payment of S$0.095 in cash per ALLT unit and the allotment and issue of 1.6765 new EREIT units for each ALLT unit, issued at S$0.51. The total consideration for the proposed merger is ~S$1.4bn based on the Scheme Consideration of S$0.95 for each ALLT unit. Upon completion, the enlarged REIT will be renamed ESR-LOGOS REIT (E-LOG)
Post-merger, E-LOG will continue to be managed by EREIT manager. The shareholding structure of E-LOG will be: Summit Group (12.7%), ESR (10.9%), and public (76.4%). The merger also removes any potential overlapping mandate between EREIT and ALLT
From EREIT’s perspective, the merger is expected to be +5.8% DPU accretive on FY20 proforma basis and -6.4% NAV dilutive. From ALLT perspective, the merger is +8.2% DPU accretive on FY20 proforma basis and +2.2% NAV accretive as well
The effects of the merger: 1) Total assets will rise to 87 properties (S$5.4bn) with 2.2m sqft NLA and 437 tenants; 2) ~66% of portfolio exposure is in the new economy (logistics and hi-tech); 3) Rising occupancy to 94.5% (from 91.7%); 4) Increased WALE to 3.2yrs (from 2.8yrs); 5) Extend land lease expiry to 37.9yrs (from 31yrs); 6) lower cost of debt to 2.84% (from 3.24%) with longer WADE; and 7) +1.6x larger debt headroom
Unitholders’ approval for EREIT is required for both merger and issuance of units (&gt;50% of total number votes), while approval for ALLT are required for the scheme (&gt;50% in numbers, &gt;75% in value) and amendment of deed (&gt;=75%). Ivanhoe Cambridge Asia (holder of 8.74% of ALLT) has given an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour of all resolutions
EREIT is trading at 1.17x P/B and 6.7% FY21E yield, while ALLT is trading at 1.39x P/B and 5.5% FY21E yield
The financing scheme and timeline is detailed on table below (illustrative purpose).


<h2>Singapore</h2><h3>SREITs results in a glance (see detailed spreadsheet and calendar attached)</h3><table class="table table-striped"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;"> </td><td style="width: 170.797px;">SUN</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">ALLT</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">SSREIT</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Period</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">1H21</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">2Q21</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">1H21</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Gross Revenue (S$ m)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">166.8 (+11.6% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">35.4 (+22.1% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">39.1 (+14.1% YoY)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">NPI (S$ m)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">112.6 (+23.9% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">30.5 (+39.2% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">25.7 (+23.2% YoY)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">DPU (S$ c)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">4.154 (+26.1% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">1.217 (-8.2% YoY)</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">1.48 (+214.9% YoY)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">NAV per Unit (S$)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">2.062</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">0.67</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">0.52</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">P/B (x)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">0.71</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">1.30</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">0.82</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Occupancy (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">2Q21:93.8 (SG Retail)92.1 (SG Office)93.9 (AU Office)100 (UK Office)</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">2Q21:98.2</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">1H21:83.4</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Reversion (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">2Q21:+2.1 (Suntec City Office)-7.2 (Suntec City Mall)</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">1H21:+2.4</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">1H21:+11.8</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Gearing (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">43.1</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">39.5</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">34.9</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Cost of Debt (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">2.41</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">2.92</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">3.4</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">1 Yr Fwd Yield (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">5.85</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">5.98</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">6.74</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Debt Hedged (%)</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">64</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">65.8</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">60.4</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Target Price</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">N/A</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">N/A</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">N/A</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 221.25px;">Rating</td><td style="width: 170.797px;">N/A</td><td style="width: 166.969px;">N/A</td><td style="width: 166.984px;">N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>

SingaporeSREITs results in a glance (see detailed spreadsheet and calendar attached) SUNALLTSSREITPeriod1H212Q211H21Gross Revenue (S$ m)166.8 (+11.6% YoY)35.4 (+22.1% YoY)39.1 (+14.1% YoY)NPI (S$ m)112.6 (+23.9% YoY)30.5 (+39.2% YoY)25.7 (+23.2% YoY)DPU (S$ c)4.154 (+26.1% YoY)1.217 (-8.2% YoY)1.48 (+214.9% YoY)NAV per Unit (S$)2.0620.670.52P/B (x)0.711.300.82Occupancy (%)2Q21:93.8 (SG Retail)92.1 (SG Office)93.9 (AU Office)100 (UK Office)2Q21:98.21H21:83.4Reversion (%)2Q21:+2.1 (Suntec City Office)-7.2 (Suntec City Mall)1H21:+2.41H21:+11.8Gearing (%)43.139.534.9Cost of Debt (%)2.412.923.41 Yr Fwd Yield (%)5.855.986.74Debt Hedged (%)6465.860.4Target PriceN/AN/AN/ARatingN/AN/AN/A

ASEAN Builder's Scoop (22Jul21) - SUN Office Portfolio Offset Retail Weakness

Partner, River Valley Asset Management

River Valley Asset Management

Partner

Singapore-based boutique asset management firm

River Valley Asset Management is a Singapore-based boutique asset management firm. Our team at RVAM strongly believes in being a trusted steward of our clients' wealth across generations.

Each of our fund managers has years of rich portfolio management experience over multiple market cycles at world-class investment houses. We bring our clients the combined strength of our investment team to manage their financial portfolios and to provide bespoke guidance on all aspects of their financial health.

We offer multi-asset class expert investment advice to accredited investors who are family offices, high net worth individuals and institutional investors to preserve and grow our clients' wealth.

The fund management team of the company includes Homiyar Vasania, Anand Ramachandran and Jamshed Desai.

As a mature economy with stable businesses, Singapore's equity benchmarks are dominated by Banks &amp; Government Linked Companies (GLC's) which have grown large over time. The large listed companies in Singapore (private as well as GLC’s) are now facing headwinds from tight labour markets resulting in rising costs and, in the absence of growth, the need to focus on raising productivity.  It is therefore not surprising that the Singapore markets do not excite the average investor. However, within this space we have been finding many hidden gems which have consistently delivered and increasingly fit the needs of a Singaporean investor looking for stable returns in a low growth environment: the REIT marketplace. Over the last seven years the REIT index has delivered over 10% p.a. annualized return which stands in stark contrast to the meagre 4% returns from benchmark STI index.

As a mature economy with stable businesses, Singapore's equity benchmarks are dominated by Banks &amp; Government Linked Companies (GLC's) which have grown large over time. The large listed companies in Singapore (private as well as GLC’s) are now facing headwinds from tight labour markets resulting in rising costs and, in the absence of growth, the need to focus on raising productivity.   It is therefore not surprising that the Singapore markets do not excite the average investor. However, within this space we have been finding many hidden gems which have consistently delivered and increasingly fit the needs of a Singaporean investor looking for stable returns in a low growth environment: the REIT marketplace. Over the last seven years the REIT index has delivered over 10% p.a. annualized return which stands in stark contrast to the meagre 4% returns from benchmark STI index.

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Equity Bottom-Up

<figure>
 <img src='https://api2.sgx.com/sites/default/files/2022-01/Capture_8.PNG' alt='Timeline of SREIT proposed and completed M&As since 2018' />
 </figure>
 <div class='content-caption'>Timeline of SREIT proposed and completed M&As since 2018</div>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
<html><body>
For S-Reits, listing on the exchange is the beginning of a journey. Twenty-four S-Reits had announced asset acquisitions valued at over S$15.3 billion and exceeding S$12.7 billion in total purchase consideration in 2021.

Aside from asset acquisitions, S-Reits have also been active in terms of mergers and acquisition (M&amp;A) opportunities. They have seen at least 5 consolidations since 2018 and could be seeing 2 more this year.

The 5 consolidated S-Reits since 2018 are CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (by CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust), Frasers Logistics &amp; Commercial Trust (by Frasers Commercial Trust and Frasers Logistics &amp; Industrial Trust), Ascott Residence Trust (by Ascott Residence Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust), OUE Commercial REIT (OUE Commercial REIT and OUE Hospitality Trust), and ESR-REIT (by ESR-REIT and Viva Industrial Trust). 
Most recently announced on Dec 31, 2021 is the proposed merger between Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) to form Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT). 
The proposed merger is expected to propel the combined entity to be the seventh largest REIT listed in Asia with a market capitalisation of approximately S$10.5 billion. 
The combined portfolio will consist of 18 commercial assets diversified across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea with assets under management (AUM) of approximately S$17.1 billion (per MCT’s AUM as of 30 September 2021 and MNACT’s AUM as of 31 October 2021). 
The proposed merger is expected to be effected by a trust scheme of arrangement with MCT acquiring all MNACT Units in exchange for new units in MCT or a combination of cash and MCT Units.

Reit managers of MCT and MNACT view the merger as an opportunity to bring together 2 leading commercial Reits with highly complementary qualities and see the combined portfolio in providing higher financial flexibility and debt headroom to accelerate its growth and acquisitions.

The new entity is also expected to benefit from the increased representation in key indices and potentially attract a wider investor base and improved trading liquidity.

Another proposed merger in progress is by ESR-Reit and Ara Logos Logistics Trust (ALOG) to form ESR-LOGOS REIT (E-LOG), with a core focus on new economy real estate. 
The combined entity, E-LOG, will hold a diversified portfolio of 87 properties consisting of logistics/warehouse, high-specifications industrial properties, business parks and general industrial properties with total assets of approximately S$5.4 billion across Singapore and Australia (as of 30 June 2021). 
Similarly, via a trust scheme, the proposed merger will see ESR-Reit acquire all units in ALOG in exchange for a combination of cash and new units in ESR-Reit.

Reit managers of ESR-Reit and ALOG have noted that the proposed merger will enhance E-LOG's growth trajectory backed by its sponsor, ESR Group, by providing access to the sponsor's new economy pipeline properties in Asia-Pacific worth over US$50 billion.  REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, <a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/s-reits-bigger-and-bolder-over-the-years">read </a>the original version.
</body></html>


      
    
    Timeline of SREIT proposed and completed M&As since 2018


For S-Reits, listing on the exchange is the beginning of a journey. Twenty-four S-Reits had announced asset acquisitions valued at over S$15.3 billion and exceeding S$12.7 billion in total purchase consideration in 2021.

Aside from asset acquisitions, S-Reits have also been active in terms of mergers and acquisition (M&amp;A) opportunities. They have seen at least 5 consolidations since 2018 and could be seeing 2 more this year.

The 5 consolidated S-Reits since 2018 are CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (by CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust), Frasers Logistics &amp; Commercial Trust (by Frasers Commercial Trust and Frasers Logistics &amp; Industrial Trust), Ascott Residence Trust (by Ascott Residence Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust), OUE Commercial REIT (OUE Commercial REIT and OUE Hospitality Trust), and ESR-REIT (by ESR-REIT and Viva Industrial Trust).  
Most recently announced on Dec 31, 2021 is the proposed merger between Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) to form Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT).  
The proposed merger is expected to propel the combined entity to be the seventh largest REIT listed in Asia with a market capitalisation of approximately S$10.5 billion.  
The combined portfolio will consist of 18 commercial assets diversified across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea with assets under management (AUM) of approximately S$17.1 billion (per MCT’s AUM as of 30 September 2021 and MNACT’s AUM as of 31 October 2021).  
The proposed merger is expected to be effected by a trust scheme of arrangement with MCT acquiring all MNACT Units in exchange for new units in MCT or a combination of cash and MCT Units.

Reit managers of MCT and MNACT view the merger as an opportunity to bring together 2 leading commercial Reits with highly complementary qualities and see the combined portfolio in providing higher financial flexibility and debt headroom to accelerate its growth and acquisitions.

The new entity is also expected to benefit from the increased representation in key indices and potentially attract a wider investor base and improved trading liquidity.

Another proposed merger in progress is by ESR-Reit and Ara Logos Logistics Trust (ALOG) to form ESR-LOGOS REIT (E-LOG), with a core focus on new economy real estate.  
The combined entity, E-LOG, will hold a diversified portfolio of 87 properties consisting of logistics/warehouse, high-specifications industrial properties, business parks and general industrial properties with total assets of approximately S$5.4 billion across Singapore and Australia (as of 30 June 2021).  
Similarly, via a trust scheme, the proposed merger will see ESR-Reit acquire all units in ALOG in exchange for a combination of cash and new units in ESR-Reit.

Reit managers of ESR-Reit and ALOG have noted that the proposed merger will enhance E-LOG's growth trajectory backed by its sponsor, ESR Group, by providing access to the sponsor's new economy pipeline properties in Asia-Pacific worth over US$50 billion.   REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.



REIT Watch - S-Reits: Bigger and bolder over the years

Singapore

ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in quality income-producing industrial real estate used for logistics purposes, as well as real estate-related assets in the Asia Pacific. Its portfolio comprises logistics warehouse properties strategically located in established logistics clusters in Singapore and Australia. The company is headquartered in Singapore and was founded in 2010.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

ARA LOGOS Logistics (ALLT SP)

ASEAN Builder's Scoop (26Oct21)

KREIT healthy collections; KDCREIT boosted by acquisitions; MLT steady as she goes; CLCT record high NPI; ALLT EFR effect dilutes DPU; MEG raises...

SCCM Asia Research

ASEAN Builder's Scoop (15Oct21)

EREIT/ALLT merger, DPU accretive for both unitholders; AAREIT strong quarter, Upgrade to BUY; Porcelain Hotel on sale for S$90m; WCTHG mixed-use...

SCCM Asia Research

ASEAN Builder's Scoop (22Jul21) - SUN Office Portfolio Offset Retail Weakness

SUN office portfolio offset retail weakness; ALLT boosted by AUS acquisitions; SSREIT robust operational metrics; CIT extends tenant support; FILRT...

SCCM Asia Research

Singapore - The Hidden Gems

As a mature economy with stable businesses, Singapore's equity benchmarks are dominated by Banks & Government Linked Companies (GLC's) which...

River Valley Asset Management

REIT Watch - S-Reits: Bigger and bolder over the years

For S-Reits, listing on the exchange is the beginning of a journey. Twenty-four S-Reits had announced asset acquisitions valued...

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)