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<\/p>\nJune 28, 2017 | Reuters<\/p>\n
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SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) – U.S. private equity group Blackstone Group LLP agreed to buy Singapore-listed and Japan-focused Croesus Retail Trust (CRT) for S$900.6 million ($650 million), part of an trend of buyouts of real estate investment trusts (REITs).<\/p>\n
Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate offered to pay S$1.17 in cash per unit, representing a 38 percent premium to CRT’s 12-month volume weighted average price, Blackstone and CRT said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The shares rose 10.9 percent to S$1.17 on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
“Croesus Retail Trust has an established portfolio of quality Japanese retail assets. This transaction represents a good opportunity for Blackstone’s real estate business to further expand its platform in Japan,” said Christopher Heady, head of real estate Asia at Blackstone Group.<\/p>\n
Blackstone Group is one of the world’s largest institutional real estate investors and managed $102 billion of equity for real estate investments as of Dec. 31, 2016.<\/p>\n
This year, Warburg Pincus-backed warehouse operator e-Shang Redwood agreed to buy an 80 percent indirect stake in the manager of Cambridge Industrial Trust. Cambridge Industrial Trust is now called ESR-REIT.<\/p>\n
CRT, which is backed by Japanese real estate business conglomerate Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd and trading company Marubeni Corp, will be acquired through a “trust scheme” and delisted. CRT manages a portfolio of about S$1.5 billion.<\/p>\n
Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte Ltd is the financial adviser to Croesus Retail Asset Management – the trustee-manager – while DBS Bank is the financial adviser to Blackstone Group. ($1 = 1.3854 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Stephen Coates)<\/p>\n