Japan: CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) has divested its Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto in Japan to an unrelated third party for around JPY6.18 billion (S$53.1 million).
The 124-unit property was divested at 40.1 per cent above book value at an exit EBITDA yield of about 0.3 per cent.
Net proceeds of the divestment are JPY4.4 billion (S$37.8 million) and CLAS has recognised a net gain of JPY0.9 billion (S$8 million).
Serena Teo, CEO of CapitaLand Ascott Trust Management Limited and CapitaLand Ascott Business Trust Management (the managers of CLAS), said: “The divestment of Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto is in line with CLAS’ active portfolio reconstitution strategy. The mature property has reached the optimal stage of its lifecycle. We plan to redeploy the divestment proceeds into higher-yielding investments to further grow our returns to stapled security holders. Japan remains a key market for CLAS and is one of our strongest performing markets. We continue to seek opportunities to strengthen our portfolio in Japan.
She added: “The proposed acquisition of lyf Funan Singapore announced last week demonstrates CLAS’ ability to enhance value for stapled security holders by using proceeds from our divestment of Citadines Mount Sophia Singapore at an exit EBITDA yield of 3.2 per cent towards the proposed acquisition of lyf Funan Singapore at a higher yield of 4.7 per cent.
“In 1H 2024, CLAS also completed the acquisition of Teriha Ocean Stage, a rental housing property in Fukuoka, Japan and fully acquired Standard at Columbia, a student accommodation property in the United States of America. The acquisitions will strengthen our income stream, creating sustainable value for our stapled security holders.”
