Mapletree fund buys RM61.5m of properties in Johor

SINGAPORE'S Mapletree Industrial Fund Ltd (MIF) is buying four industrial properties in Johor for RM61.5 million in a sale and leaseback arrangement.

It has signed two separate agreements with Tangkai Jaya Sdn Bhd and Setegap Jaya Sdn Bhd to buy their assets at the Tampoi Industrial Estate in Johor.

The properties consist of four two-storey purpose-built detached factory buildings with 406,250 sq ft of floor area.

Each of the four properties is sub-leased to individual tenants, namely Enplas Precision (M) Sdn Bhd, MCE Technologies Sdn Bhd and Celestica Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd, with the latter occupying two buildings.

"This acquisition has enabled the MIF to increase its portfolio of good quality industrial assets in Malaysia, thus highlighting our commitment towards growing the MIF into a pan-Asian industrial fund," said Phua Kok Kim, chief executive officer of Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd, which manages the fund, in a statement yesterday.

MIF is focused on investing primarily in manufacturing facilities, business parks, industrial parks, research and development facilities, information technology and software parks and industrial offices in various Asian countries.

In a Reuters report, Singapore's Mapletree Logistics Trust said yesterday that it will defer its proposed proposed rights issue of up to S$500 million (S$1 = RM2.29) due to market volatility.

"The manager has decided to defer the trust's proposed fund raising due to the recent high volatility in global capital markets. We will revisit our fund raising exercise when market conditions are more conducive," the trust said in a statement.

By New Straits Times