Prime US REIT

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#1
Prime US REIT launches largest IPO year-to-date; selling units at $1.20 each

Samantha Chiew 
8/07/2019, 6:06pm

SINGAPORE (July 8): KBS US Prime Property Management, the manager of Prime US REIT, has registered its final prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to its proposed offering and listing of units in Prime US REIT on the Mainboard of SGX.

This is expected to be the largest IPO on the Singapore Exchange year-to-date with market capitalisation of US$813 million ($1.1 billion). 

The REIT intends to sell over 335.2 million units – 318.4 million units to investors outside of US and at least 16.8 million units to the public in Singapore – in its initial public offering (IPO) at an offering price of 88 US cents per unit ($1.20 per unit for Singapore offering) to raise up to US$295 million.

In addition, KBS REIT Properties III, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III, which is selling the initial portfolio to Prime US REIT, has entered into an agreement to subscribe about 228.4 million units, resulting in a 24.7% stake in Prime US REIT.

Separately, Prime US REIT has secured commitments from nine cornerstone investors -- including wholly-owned subsidiaries of Keppel Capital and Singapore Press Holdings -- who have subscribed for an aggregate of about 360.3 million units, representing a 39% stake.

The Singapore public offer opens at 9pm tonight and closes at 12 noon on July 12.

Based on this offering price, the REIT offers a distribution yield of 7.4% in forecast year 2019 and 7.6% in projection year 2020, representing a distribution yield growth of 3.1%.

The manager is 60% owned by KAP; 30% owned by Keppel Capital Two, a subsidiary of Keppel Capital Management; and 10% owned by Experion Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT Holdings.

Times Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), has entered into a call option agreement to acquire a 20% in the manager from KAP after the listing date, subject to MAS approval.

As at Dec 31, 2018, Prime US REIT’s portfolio consists of 11 high-quality, Class A and freehold office properties with a total appraised value of US$1.2 billion.

The assets are located in nine key office markets across the US – San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland); Salt Lake City; Denver; St Louis; Dallas; San Antonio; Philadelphia; Washington DC (suburban Maryland and Virginia); and Atlanta – and have an aggregate net lettable area (NLA) of 3.4 million sq ft.

The IPO portfolio has an occupancy rate of 96.7%, with a base of more than 180 tenant across diverse trade sectors including financial, legal, real estate, technology and information services. The portfolio also has a long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 5.5 years based on NLA and its top 10 tenants have long-tenured leases with a WALE of 6.7 years.

It also enjoys a well spread-out lease expiry profile, with a three-year average lease expiry by NLA and cash rental income of 6.6% and 6.5%, respectively.

The REIT is backed by its sponsor KBS Asia Partners and benefits from its association with KBS.

Prime US REIT’s yield growth is driven by 98.3% of contracted leases having built-in escalation clauses on a fixed rate basis, ranging annually between 1.0% and 3.0%.

Also, 96.9% of its leases by NLA are on triple-net or modified/full service gross basis, shielding Prime US REIT from increases in real estate taxes and property expenses.

The REIT says that it aims to provide unitholders with regular and stable distributions and to achieve long-term growth in distribution per unit and net asset value per unit, while maintaining an appropriate capital structure.

From the listing date to the end of projection year 2020, the REIT’s distribution policy is to distribute 100% of its annual distributable income. Thereafter, it will distribute at least 90% of its annual distributable income.

Distributions are expected to be made semi-annually and declared in US dollars.  

More details in https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capital...e-120-each
Specuvestor: Asset - Business - Structure.
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#2
Prime US REIT Included in MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index

Prime US REIT announced that it hasbeen included in  the MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index as of the close of market trading on 26 November 2019.

The MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small cap segment of the Singapore market. With 51 constituents as at 31 October 2019, the index represents approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation of the Singapore equity universe.

More details in https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Prime%20U...eID=589074
Specuvestor: Asset - Business - Structure.
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#3
As part of the 3 US office REITs listed in SGX, I noticed they are now valued at about 10-12% forward dividend yield. For Prime, it is currently priced at a forward 12% dividend yield.

In terms of leverage, they are at the same ratio as our local REITs with an added advantage that their properties are freehold. I am tempted to know why are the US office space REITs priced at such a low valuation. Is there a market expectation that the US office space will experience a significant fall in demand such that the occupancy rate will fall until it is about 6% dividend yield, comparable to our local office space REITs.

Seems unique for a group of Office space REITs to be yielding such a high dividend unless the outlook for USA is quite negative.
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#4
(25-11-2022, 10:59 AM)CY09 Wrote: As part of the 3 US office REITs listed in SGX, I noticed they are now valued at about 10-12% forward dividend yield. For Prime, it is currently priced at a forward 12% dividend yield.

In terms of leverage, they are at the same ratio as our local REITs with an added advantage that their properties are freehold. I am tempted to know why are the US office space REITs priced at such a low valuation. Is there a market expectation that the US office space will experience a significant fall in demand such that the occupancy rate will fall until it is about 6% dividend yield, comparable to our local office space REITs.

Seems unique for a group of Office space REITs to be yielding such a high dividend unless the outlook for USA is quite negative.

I wouldn't touch this sector for the time being. It's hit with a triple whammy:

1. office workers are not returning in force after the pandemic with significant number with the option of wfh...excess space
2. interest rate is rising and still no end in sight of a pivot. It will stay elevated for at least a couple of yrs.
3. recession is expected next yr. means more lay offs. already major tech has announced significant lay offs. other sectors will follow suit if recession is not shallow.

Read somewhere that Manulife reit is "hotelising" their properties. says a lot of this sector.
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#5
(25-11-2022, 10:59 AM)CY09 Wrote: As part of the 3 US office REITs listed in SGX, I noticed they are now valued at about 10-12% forward dividend yield. For Prime, it is currently priced at a forward 12% dividend yield.

In terms of leverage, they are at the same ratio as our local REITs with an added advantage that their properties are freehold. I am tempted to know why are the US office space REITs priced at such a low valuation. Is there a market expectation that the US office space will experience a significant fall in demand such that the occupancy rate will fall until it is about 6% dividend yield, comparable to our local office space REITs.

Seems unique for a group of Office space REITs to be yielding such a high dividend unless the outlook for USA is quite negative.

I wonder about the same thing. My guess is the physical occupancy of about 50+% which is persistently low after exiting the covid crisis. Perhaps market is pricing in possibility that leased occupancy will trend downwards to match physical occupancy as hybrid work become entrenched.
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#6
Dear all,

Reits are not static, as in they have to remain in the office sector all the way. We have seen how CapitaLand China Trust have expanded their investment mandate to include other sector like logistics in addition to their retail segment.

Manulife US REIT had called for a strategic review. I won't be surprised if they decide to expand their investment mandate to include other sectors.

Ultimately, it still depends on the managers and how they are going to add value to those assets in the Reits, either by transforming existing assets, divesting under-performing assets and/or introducing new ones in growing sectors.

As for us, we just have to make sure that the managers are decent and we invest with a decent margin of safety.
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#7
(25-11-2022, 03:25 PM)Jacmar Wrote:
(25-11-2022, 10:59 AM)CY09 Wrote: As part of the 3 US office REITs listed in SGX, I noticed they are now valued at about 10-12% forward dividend yield. For Prime, it is currently priced at a forward 12% dividend yield.

In terms of leverage, they are at the same ratio as our local REITs with an added advantage that their properties are freehold. I am tempted to know why are the US office space REITs priced at such a low valuation. Is there a market expectation that the US office space will experience a significant fall in demand such that the occupancy rate will fall until it is about 6% dividend yield, comparable to our local office space REITs.

Seems unique for a group of Office space REITs to be yielding such a high dividend unless the outlook for USA is quite negative.

I wouldn't touch this sector for the time being. It's hit with a triple whammy:

1. office workers are not returning in force after the pandemic with significant number with the option of wfh...excess space
2. interest rate is rising and still no end in sight of a pivot. It will stay elevated for at least a couple of yrs.
3. recession is expected next yr. means more lay offs. already major tech has announced significant lay offs. other sectors will follow suit if recession is not shallow.

Read somewhere that Manulife reit is "hotelising" their properties. says a lot of this sector.

Manulife REIT 3Q22's slide 29 probably sums it all up:
https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Manulife%...eID=737310

This is probably going to get a bit out of topic but I will risk it. There are some broad lessons for all OPMIs:

EHT IPO and subsequent demise
- Of course I am not equating them with EHT nor suggest their future end up like EHT. These managers come with better pedigree and reputation than the EHT ones.
- But EHT holds some dear lessons in terms of (1) Master leases, rental support. (2) The importance of who is holding the informational edge between a seller and buyer.
- You only buy when you (think you) know more than the seller! You only sell when you (think you) know more than the buyer!

The biggest English soccer clubs Man United and Liverpool are up for sale!
- Ouch, these trophy clubs are not going to come cheap!
- Why are the owners selling their trophy assets? More competition in the future? More investments needed to maintain the earning power/brand?

https://www.espn.com/soccer/manchester-u...ppens-next
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#8
Rainbow 
@wj - don't worry OT, just speak your mind and post anything that you wanted.

given the number of daily posts, the last thing in your mind - would be censoring OT posts - especially - your own.

Gratitude.
Heart
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#9
No kidding. The REIT is forecasted to give a US 4 cents in dividends and at its current share price of 12.3 cents, it gives a 32% dividend yield. This is the highest US dividend REIT in the whole world!

While it seems to pass all of MAS's requirements based on current ratio ((1) Leverage ratio of 42.8%, below 45%, (2) Interest Coverage ratio of 3.4 times, above the 2.5 times requirement), there seems to be a reason that the market is pricing the REIT at the same distressed levels of Manulife US REIT.

What caused Manulife US REIT to breach MAS's regulatory requirements was due to a few of its big tenants (such as The Children's place) terminating its leasing contract early or not continuing its lease. This resulted in a revaluation which pushed down its asset prices and in turn making it breach the regulatory 50% leverage ratio

PRIME has been silent but the recent share price decline indicates something has happened. Is there a possibility that PRIME's REIT manager are not honest and been hiding news which a few market participants know?
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#10
The big issue / unknown are the banks financing Prime. They will have financial covenants in place. In particular, the "loan to value" covenant could be triggered as office space is being marked down across the US. That could trigger a default. Under such a scenario, the banks are likely to insist that dividends be stopped and cash diverted to repay loans. There may still be a lot of value in the REIT that could, ultimately, be realised but the dividend payments should not be taken for granted.
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