MAPLETREE Industrial Trust : ME8U 0%’s (MIT) private placement has closed at the issue price of S$2.212 per new unit, or at the highest end of the estimated price range of between S$2.16 and S$2.212. 

The placement was about 4.5 times covered, with “strong participation from new and existing institutional, accredited and other investors”, said its manager on Friday (May 26).

A total of 92,593,000 new units issued under the placement are expected to commence trading on Jun 6.

For illustrative purposes, the issue price represents a discount of about 1.5 per cent to the trust’s adjusted volume weighted average price (VWAP) of S$2.2458 per unit in MIT, after subtracting an estimated advanced distribution of S$0.0248, or the midpoint of the estimated advanced distribution range.

It comes at a discount of about 2.6 per cent to the VWAP of S$2.2706 for all trades done on Wednesday, and up to the time the placement agreement was signed on Thursday.

About S$200.4 million – or 97.9 per cent of S$204.8 million in gross proceeds raised from the private placement – will be used to partially fund MIT’s 52-billion-yen (S$507.9 million) acquisition of a new data centre in Japan.

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The remaining S$4.4 million will be used to pay estimated professional fees and other expenses related to the transaction.

Located in downtown Osaka, the asset sits on around 45,280 square feet (sq ft) of land, with a gross floor area of about 143,500 sq ft and net lettable area of about 136,900 sq ft.

Due to be fully fitted by May 2025, the asset is fully leased to a data centre operator with a weighted average lease to expiry of about 20 years.

MIT’s manager expects the acquisition to be distribution per unit-accretive for unit holders, at a rate of 2.1 per cent. Accretion to net asset value per unit is estimated to come in at 0.5 per cent.

Units of MIT ended S$0.02 or 0.9 per cent lower at S$2.26 on Friday.