Manulife US Reit issues units to pay management fees

MANULIFE US Real Estate Investment Trust's (Reit) manager has received its base management fee in units for the three months ended March 31 this year.

Some 1.2 million units in Manulife US Reit have been issued on May 30 at an issue price of 83.81 US cents per unit to Manufacturers Life Reinsurance Limited (MLRL) as payment of the base component of the Reit's management fee, the manager said in an exchange filing on Tuesday evening.

MLRL was nominated by the Reit's manager Manulife US Real Estate Management Pte Ltd to receive the management fee units in its place. These were issued as payment of the manager's base fee for Jan 1 to March 31 this year.

Under the trust deed, the Reit's manager may choose to receive its base fee in the form of cash and/or units. The manager has chosen to receive the full base fees in the form of units for 2016 and 2017. With the latest issuance, Manulife US Real Estate Management Pte Ltd will hold a direct interest of 0.197 per cent in the Reit.

In a separate announcement, the Reit manager said that another 512,024 units in the Reit were issued at a price of 87.5 US cents on May 30 as payment of the full property management fees for Jan 1 to March 31. MLRL had been nominated by the property manager John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) to receive the property management fees in its place.