Hongkong Land shares up 5% on S$1.45 billion sale of MBFC stake

[SINGAPORE] Shares of Hongkong Land rose as much as 5 per cent in intraday trading on Thursday (Dec 11), following news of its S$1.45 billion sale of its stake in Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 to Keppel Reit.

At 2.40pm, the counter was 5 per cent or US$0.33 higher at US$6.90, with 4.79 million shares transacted.

On Thursday morning, Keppel Reit announced in a bourse filing that it had agreed to acquire an additional one-third interest in the MBFC asset from Sageland, which is a subsidiary of Hongkong Land.

Upon completion of the deal, expected on Dec 31, Keppel Reit’s interest in the property will increase to two-thirds.

To fund the acquisition, the Reit launched an underwritten non-renounceable preferential offering to raise gross proceeds of around S$886.3 million. About S$875.6 million, or 98.8 per cent of the gross proceeds, will be used to partially finance the acquisition.

MBFC was originally jointly developed by a consortium comprising Hongkong Land, Keppel Land and Cheung Kong.

SEE ALSO

The Business Times reached out to Hongkong Land for more details on the rationale of its divestment. Hongkong Land responded that it will make an announcement soon.