• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About KK
  • Resources
    • Income Tax Calculator
  • Freebies
  • Blog
  • Ask KK

Risk N Returns

Personal Finance and Investment Ideas

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Start Here
  • Current Portfolio
  • Personal Finance
  • Invest

Flash Note: Capitaland Mall Trust acquisition of remaining interest in Westgate

September 27, 2018 By KK

Today, Capitaland Mall Trust finally released more information on its proposed acquisition of Westgate as part of its EGM circular to unitholders. As a unitholder myself, I thought I’ll dive in, give my quick thoughts and speculate a bit.

The circular and presentation can be found here.


Overview

Capitaland Mall Trust is proposing to acquire the remaining 70% interest in Westgate that it doesn’t own from its sponsor, Capitaland. It will be holding an EGM on 10 am, 25th October 2018 to obtain unitholders’ approval to proceed with the acquisition.

Westgate.jpg

As most Singaporeans know, Westgate is a mall located next to Jurong East MRT and is part of a mixed use development of retail and office space. It is also located within the Jurong Lake District, the planned 2nd CBD in Singapore. As such, it is a fantastic property location wise with some growth potential as the Lake District develops and matures.

Financing Details

The main details that were revealed as part of this circular relates to potential funding structures and their potential impact on the key valuation metrics of the REIT. 3 potential models of funding was illustrated: 70% debt funded, 85% debt funded and 100% debt funded, with the balance funded by equity where necessary.

Gearing

Gearing Comparison
Source: Capitaland Mall Trust EGM Circular

As you can see here, the REIT has ability to fully fund the acquisition with debt without busting MAS gearing caps. Whether they choose to do so really depends on economic conditions at the time of fund raising.

Distribution per Unit

DPU Comparison
Source: Capitaland Mall Trust EGM Circular

A key assumption for this illustration is that equity is raised at $2 per unit, which is a 8.3% discount to today’s closing price of $2.18. Under the above conditions (No more than 30% of funding raised by equity and at $2 per unit), the acquisition is yield accretive. This is only true if management keeps the financing structure within these parameters.


Net asset value

NAV Comparison
Source: Capitaland Mall Trust EGM Circular

NAV post acquisition doesn’t change much. This means that the REIT is highly likely to be able to issue equity at a premium to book (based on illustrative price of $2 versus NAV of $1.93), which explains why the acquisition is able to be yield accretive at up to 70% LTV.

My Guess

Here we enter the realm of speculation, let’s assume the acquisition is approved at the EGM, which is highly likely given the merits of the deal.

First question: What would the final financing structure be?

Whether they ultimately choose to fund it entirely through debt or partially fund it with equity really depends on economic factors like interest rate and cost of equity. As the REIT is currently trading at a premium to NAV, cost of equity is low as it is able to issue equity at a premium to valuation. Coupled with the fact that the REIT potentially might need the debt headroom for other acquisitions or to complete the construction of Funan, it definitely makes sense for the REIT to issue equity.

Second question: Since equity is likely to be issued, will there be a rights issue? In order to answer that, let’s take a look at a hypothetical scenario – if it was a rights issue for 70% LTV scenario, what would be the likely structure of the deal?

Rights issue ratio.JPG
For convenience, I ignored the effects of the acquisition fee. I also included a “worst case” scenario where the Managers fund the acquisition at NAV.

A whopping 3.5 units per 100 shares! Given a rights issue / preferential offering is much more expensive to conduct as compared to a private placement, my money is on the REIT managers doing a private placement instead, should they choose to partially fund it through equity.

So my best guess is that the acquisition will be funded by a mix of debt and equity, while equity will most likely be raised via private placement. So don’t feel too compelled to raise cash to participate in a potential rights issue. Let’s see if I’m ultimately right 😛

Do you agree with my guess? Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Hunting,
KK

If you love the articles I write, like my Facebook Page or follow my blog and never miss another article!


Related

Filed Under: Companies I've covered, Financial News, Invest, Musings Tagged With: Capitaland Mall Trust


Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 338 other subscribers

Search my site

Top Posts & Pages

  • Investment Quadrant 3.0 by The Fifth Person - Course Review
    Investment Quadrant 3.0 by The Fifth Person - Course Review
  • My Guide to the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
    My Guide to the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
  • Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) - July 2019 Issue
    Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) - July 2019 Issue
  • Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) - August 2019 Issue
    Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) - August 2019 Issue

Archives

  • January 2022 (1)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • September 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • July 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (2)
  • December 2020 (2)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (3)
  • July 2020 (3)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (4)
  • November 2019 (4)
  • October 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (7)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (8)
  • May 2019 (7)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (12)
  • February 2019 (8)
  • January 2019 (4)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (6)
  • July 2018 (3)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (4)
  • April 2018 (6)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (6)
  • January 2018 (10)
  • December 2017 (7)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (3)




Copyright © 2023 | Risk N Returns