Manulife US Reit selects Citigroup as financial adviser for strategic review

MANULIFE US real estate investment trust (Reit) has chosen Citigroup Global Markets Singapore as its financial adviser for the group’s strategic review announced in its in third quarter business update, it said on Friday (Nov 25).

This comes after the reit said it would be exploring options to enhance shareholder value, through the formation of a new strategic working group comprising the senior members of the manager and the board of the manager.

Options listed by the reit include a recycling of assets and the diversification into other asset classes and geographical markets. These come amid persistent headwinds in the US office sector as renewal of office leases by existing tenants fell to “historic lows”.

Citigroup will thus assist the strategic working group in its review, said the reit’s manager.

However, there is no assurance that the reit will implement any of the options identified through the strategic review. Further announcements would be made if there were any “material developments which warrant disclosure,” said the manager.

Units of Manulife US Reit were trading 4.1 per cent higher at US$0.385 as at 3.53pm on Friday.

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The counter has performed poorly since its listing in 2016. Units of the reit were down 47.2 per cent on Friday as compared to six years ago.