CapitaLand Ascendas Reit to acquire, lease back DHL’s Indiana logistics property in $150.3m deal
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DHL Indianapolis Logistics Centre is a single-storey, fully occupied logistics building in Whiteland, Indianapolis.
PHOTO: CAPITALAND ASCENDAS REIT
Michelle Zhu
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SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Ascendas Reit (Clar) is proposing to acquire logistics property DHL Indianapolis Logistics Centre in Whiteland, Indianapolis, Indiana, for $150.3 million from DHL USA.
The completion of the deal is slated for the first quarter of 2025.
Following this, DHL USA will enter a long-term leaseback of about 11 years till December 2035 of the property’s entire gross floor area (GFA) of about 979,649 sq ft.
The agreement will come with options to renew for two additional five-year terms.
On Dec 17, Clar’s manager said this would represent the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) first sale-and-leaseback acquisition in the US.
Its executive director and chief executive William Tay said the acquisition would increase Clar’s US logistics portfolio value by 35.3 per cent to $587.5 million, with a total estimated GFA of 5.1 million sq ft.
Including DHL Indianapolis Logistics Centre, modern logistics assets will account for 42.3 per cent of the Reit’s US logistics assets under management.
Clar’s manager expects DHL Indianapolis Logistics Centre’s built-in rent escalation of 3.5 per cent per annum to provide income stability and strengthen the resilience of the Reit’s portfolio.
“With the long lease in place, this property will further enhance Clar’s resilient income stream,” said Mr Tay.
The fully occupied property is a single-storey, fully air-conditioned logistics building with specifications such as a high ceiling with a clear height of 12.2m.
Clar’s manager noted that its modern features, including cross-dock configuration and LED lighting, are expected to enable the property to meet and accommodate the needs of both current and future occupiers.
Highlighting the locations of Clar’s other US logistics assets in Kansas City, Chicago and Charleston, the manager believes that DHL Indianapolis Logistics Centre is “a strategic fit” with such existing assets.
It also strengthens Clar’s presence in the Midwest, which the manager identified as one of the major industrial markets in the United States.
The property’s total acquisition cost of $153.4 million, including an acquisition fee and other transaction-related expenses, is intended to be financed through a combination of internal resources, divestment proceeds or existing debt facilities.
For illustrative purposes, Clar’s distribution per unit (DPU) for the financial year would have been 0.019 cent, representing a DPU accretion of 0.1 per cent, assuming that the proposed acquisition was completed on Jan 1, 2023.
Units of Clar were unchanged at $2.55 as at 9.24am on Dec 17.
