Goodman Group set to manage Singapore JTC Reit
By UMA SHANKARI
JTC Corporation is set to appoint Australian-listed property and wealth management company Goodman Group to manage its upcoming real estate investment trust (Reit), sources say.
The news follows last month’s report in the Australian Financial Review that Goodman Group beat competitors - including Singapore’s CapitaLand and Mapletree Investments - to become the manager of Singapore government-owned JTC Corporation’s upcoming trust.
Other names in the running included Challenger Financial Services Group and CapitaLand subsidiary Australand, both of which are listed on the Australian stock exchange, the report said.
The report also said that UBS, Goldman Sachs and DBS are in line to underwrite the offer.
Industry players said the Reit’s initial property portfolio is expected to be worth more than $1 billion.
When contacted by BT, JTC said that the selection is still ongoing. JTC said in July 2007 that it would announce the winning manager and underwriter by the end of that year.
‘We are in the process of selecting the Reit manager and we will give updates at the appropriate time,’ said a JTC spokeswoman.
Goodman already has substantial assets in Asia, including a 40 per cent stake in the manager of Singapore-listed Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit).
Goodman is looking to expand in the region, market watchers have said. In mid-2007, Macquarie and Goodman ended a partnership that began in 2001. Macquarie paid more than A$730 million (S$922.4 million) to divest its investment in Goodman.
JTC, Singapore’s biggest industrial landlord, said last July that it will divest some $1.4 billion-$1.6 billion worth of assets and focus its attention on strategic developments with a longer payback time.
The bulk of the assets to be sold will be pumped into a Reit, chief executive Ow Foong Pheng told reporters at the time.
JTC also said at the same time that it has short-listed seven Reit managers and would announce the winning manager by the end of 2007. The Reit was scheduled to be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in the second quarter of this year.
A-Reit, Singapore’s second Reit, was set up by JTC unit Ascendas five years ago. The trust has since expanded by acquiring industrial buildings.
Source : Business Time - 04 Jan 2008
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