Singapore-listed Ascendas REIT is to raise S$1.2bn (鈧�753m) to help fund S$2bn worth of acquisitions in the US, Europe and Australia.
Ascendas is buying two newly-built office towers in San Francisco for S$768m, a deal it expects to be part-funded with about S$390m of the proceeds from the launched private placement and preferential offering capital raising. The deal will also be funded by debt facilities.
鈥淭his acquisition allows us to plant a foothold in San Francisco, one of the most dynamic and progressive cities in the US,鈥� said William Tay, executive director and chief executive officer of the manager of Ascendas REIT.
Ascendas鈥� head of capital markets, Yeow Kit Peng, said the assets were purchased at a 2.2% discount to their current valuation and were under-rented by around 15%.
Their addition to the Ascendas portfolio would lift the firm鈥檚 exposure to the US from 10% to 15% of its total portfolio. Ascendas entered the US market in 2018.
鈥淲e are also doing 鈥渁 pre-emptive鈥� capital raising to ensure that funds will be available for two other transactions in Europe and Australia,鈥� Tay said.
Of the equity raised, he said S$614m would be used to fund the purchase of a data centre portfolio in Europe, and another S$180m for the planned acquisition of a suburban office building in Australia.
鈥淲e hope to close these transactions within the next one to three months,鈥� said Tay, adding that a lot of work was yet to be done as his team worked towards closing these two 鈥渁ttractive鈥� acquisitions.
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