SPH takes 20% stake in Prime US Reit manager

SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) on Tuesday completed its acquisition of a 20 per cent interest in KBS US Prime Property Management, which manages newly listed Prime US Reit.

SPH, which publishes The Business Times, announced on June 28 that its wholly-owned subsidiary Times Properties signed a call option agreement to acquire the stake in the Reit manager from KBS Asia Partners.

On Tuesday night, SPH said the conditions precedent for the completion of the call option had been satisfied, and Times Properties had exercised the call option.

The Reit manager is now an associated company of SPH.

Prime US Reit debuted on the Singapore bourse on July 19, closing at its initial public offering price of US$0.88. It is the third US office real estate investment trust to list here, following in the footsteps of Manulife US Reit and Keppel-KBS US Reit.

SPH shares ended unchanged at S$2.09 on Tuesday before the announcement was made, while units of Prime US Reit closed at US$0.88, down 1.5 US cent or 1.68 per cent.