Proposal to rescue Manulife US Reit falls flat

THE market delivered a crystal clear verdict this past week on the much-anticipated proposal by Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (MUST) to remedy a breach of its loan covenants and place itself on a stronger financial footing.

On Nov 30 – a day after unveiling a proposal to shrink its property portfolio and take on a loan from its sponsor group at a double-digit rate of interest – units in MUST fell more than 42.8 per cent to US$0.052.

MUST had climbed strongly during the first three weeks of last month – to a closing high of US$0.103 on Nov 22 – after its manager said in its Q3 2023 business update that its sponsor group had assembled a support package for the beleaguered US office property trust.