What Manulife US REIT unitholders really want

SINGAPORE (Sept 15): Manulife US REIT, which was listed only in May last year after an IPO of its units at 83 US cents, recently proposed to acquire of a building called 10 Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey for US$312 million ($422 million), and a 41- for-100 rights issue of 299.29 million new units at a deeply discounted price of 69.5 US cents each.

This comes less than three months after announcing the acquisition of another property called 500 Plaza Drive for US$115 million.

REITs provide investors with a convenient and tax-efficient means of gaining exposure to commercial properties, and are required to pay out more than 90% of their distributable income. However, REITs also carry a certain amount of debt on their balance sheets to lift their DPU yields.

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