Stocks to watch: Keppel, Manulife US Reit, Best World

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday (Nov 30):

Keppel : The asset manager and operator has agreed to acquire an initial 50 per cent stake in Aermont Capital for a consideration of up to 356.9 million euros (S$521.8 million). It plans to subsequently acquire the remaining shares in the European real estate manager for a maximum of 575 million euros, bringing the maximum consideration for the acquisition to 931.9 million euros. Shares of Keppel closed at S$6.43 on Wednesday, up S$0.09 or 1.4 per cent, before the announcement.

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Manulife US Reit): Its manager on Wednesday revealed plans to raise funds through a mix of asset dispositions and a sponsor-lender loan to remedy its financial covenant breach. An extraordinary general meeting will be held on Dec 14 to seek unitholders’ approval for certain transactions under the Reit’s proposed recapitalisation plan. Units of Manulife US Reit ended 2.2 per cent or US$0.002 lower at US$0.091 on Tuesday, before a trading halt was requested on Wednesday morning. The counter resumes trading on Thursday.