ESR-REIT completes S$149.6m equity fundraising

It consists of S$49.6m preferential offering and S$100m private placement.

ESR-REIT completed its equity fundraising totalling S$149.6m, according to its manager ESR Funds Management (S) Limited.

The fund raised is composed of S$49.6m preferential offering and S$100m private placement in May 2021, the manager said, noting that the preferential offering, which saw strong demand from existing unitholders, was about 3.6 times subscribed.

The net proceeds from the equity fundraising will be used to partially finance the acquisition of the modern ramp-up logistics facility located at 46A Tanjong Penjuru and the upcoming asset enhancement initiatives for 7000 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 and 16 Tai Seng Street.

It will also be used to partially repay existing debt taken to fund the acquisition of a 10% stake in ESR Australia Logistics Partnership. 

Adrian Chu, CEO and executive director of ESR Funds, said the demand for both the private placement and preferential offering was around S$517.4m or 3.5 times the total offer size.

“We are very grateful to our Unitholders for their continued support and confidence in us as we execute our growth initiatives to optimise our portfolio and strengthen our financial flexibility. This is a testament to ESR-REIT’s track record in delivering stable distribution per unit and a clear commitment towards sustainable growth,” he said.

The manager said 124.1 million preferential offering new units were offered to existing unitholders on the basis of 32 preferential offering new units for every 1,000 existing units. The issue price of  S$0.400 per preferential offering new unit represented a discount of around 9.2% to the volume of the weighted average price of S$0.4403 per unit on 26 July.