Singapore – Mapletree Industrial Fund Ltd (“MIF”) today announced that it has entered into a binding option with a USA-owned developer of industrial properties in China, Eastern American Textile Machinery Trading Company (“Eastern American”) to acquire an 85% share in an industrial property – the Kunshan American Industrial Park (“Kunshan AIP”) – located in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, China for RMB 156.4 million (S$31.0 million).

The Kunshan AIP is located on a land of 132,800 square metres. Currently under construction, the development comprises 10 manufacturing buildings and one service building with a total gross floor area of 80,000 square metres. MIF expects to exercise the option upon its completion at end 2008.

Mr Phua Kok Kim, CEO of Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd (“MIFM”) said, “We are very pleased to have secured the option from Eastern American to become the majority shareholder in Kunshan American Industrial Park. Eastern American is an established company with many years of experience in China and we are delighted to have them as a partner in this project. The option demonstrates our commitment towards growing the MIF into a pan-Asian industrial fund.”

Mr Clark Friedman, President of Eastern American, said, “We are honoured to work with Mapletree Industrial Fund to build the Kunshan American Industrial Park in the Kunshan New and High-Tech Industrial Development Zone and make it into a premier gated garden-style industrial park in the region. We are looking forward to working with Mapletree on this and on other future projects.”

Kunshan is one of China’s most important manufacturing regions and houses leading global enterprises such as Alcatel, Kone Elevators, Mitsubishi, Nestle, Novartis, Tetra Pak and Toyota. The rapid growth of Kunshan’s US$6 billion electronics manufacturing sector has resulted in a shortage of good quality modern steel structure industrial buildings, which will be partly alleviated with the development of the Kunshan AIP.

The Kunshan AIP is located in the Kunshan New and High-Tech Industrial Development Zone and situated about five kilometres from the Shanghai-Nanjing Highway and the Suzhou Beltway. It is also strategically located with easy access to Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, which is 45 kilometres away, while Shanghai Port, Taicang Port and the Yangshan Deep Water Port, are 50, 45 and 150 kilometres away respectively.