Singapore – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd today announced that it has signed a Put and Call Option Agreement with SESDAQ-listed precision engineering and plastic injection moulding company, Avaplas Ltd, to acquire its industrial property at 19 Changi South Street 1 for S$10 million. This property would go into the Mapletree Industrial Trust, a pan-Asian trust focusing on good quality industrial properties.
The property is a part single-storey and part 4-storey industrial building with a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of approximately 7,000 m2 and located on a 6,300 m2 piece of land. As the sole occupier of the building, Avaplas Ltd will lease back the property for 10 years, with an option to renew the lease for a further 10 years.
Mr Phua Kok Kim, Mapletree’s Executive Vice President of Capital Management said, “This deal is significant as it marks our first acquisition for Mapletree Industrial Trust. We are actively on the look-out for suitable industrial properties to acquire and are currently in various stages of negotiating deals across Asia.”
Explaining the rationale for Mapletree setting up an industrial property trust, Mr Phua said, “We see a lot of synergy between Mapletree Industrial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust (MapletreeLog), which are managed by two different teams. The teams expect to do a lot of cross referencing of deals to each other. Mapletree Industrial Trust will focus mainly on industrial properties with manufacturing facilities which are outside the scope of MapletreeLog.”
Commenting on Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mr Hiew Yoon Khong, CEO of Mapletree said, “We see this initiative as part of our regional strategy to expand our logistics and industrial initiatives in Asia and to establish Mapletree as a leading real estate company with an Asian focus.”
“With our experience in building and managing warehouses and industrial properties, and ability to offer an integrated suite of real estate solutions, such as asset management and build-to-suit capabilities, we will be able to support and partner, not only logistics companies, but also manufacturers, wherever they need to go in the region,” he added.
