SINGAPORE - The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Tuesday (Sept 10):
CapitaLand, Ascott Residence Trust, Ascendas Hospitality Trust: The manager of Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit), a subsidiary of property giant CapitaLand, announced on Monday night the establishment of Ascott Business Trust. This comes after the manager proposed in July to combine Ascott Reit and Ascendas Hospitality Trust, through the acquisition by Ascott Reit of all Ascendas Hospitality Trust stapled units for an aggregate consideration of $1.0868 for each stapled unit.
Separately, CapitaLand also announced on Monday that its shopping mall Raffles City Chongqing in China saw over 900,000 visitors during its opening weekend. The mall, with 95 per cent committed occupancy, is the first component of the integrated Raffles City development.
Shares of CapitaLand ended trading at $3.54 on Monday, down two cents or 0.56 per cent. Units of Ascott Reit closed flat at $1.31, while stapled units of Ascendas Hospitality Trust were unchanged at $1.08.
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH): The media and property group, which publishes The Business Times, has recorded a revaluation gain of 6.7 per cent or £22.8 million (S$38.4 million) on its purpose-built student accommodation portfolio in the UK. The gain comes within a year of SPH's expansion into the student accommodation sector, with an initial £180.5 million investment. Shares of SPH closed at $1.99 on Monday, up one cent or 0.51 per cent, before the announcement was made.
Starhill Global Reit, Isetan: The real estate investment trust's (Reit) manager has issued a letter of intent to acquire Isetan Singapore's share of Wisma Atria, The Business Times understands. Starhill Global Reit (SGReit) currently owns about 74 per cent of the Wisma Atria property's total share value of strata lots, with the remaining owned by Isetan Singapore. It is also believed that, to close its grip on the property, the Reit manager is prepared to offer more than $290.7 million - the fair value of Isetan's investment stake in Wisma Atria as at the end of 2018. The manager is part of the YTL Group controlled by Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh. Units of SGReit closed flat at 76.5 cents on Monday, while shares of Isetan were up three cents of 6.7 per cent to $4.78.
Mercurius Capital Investment: The Catalist-listed company has issued $1.2 million in new shares to Hii Siew Chung and Cheah Bee Lin at a conversion price of $0.10 apiece for 12.0 million new shares, it said on Tuesday morning. This is to repay a redeemable $1 million convertible loan provided to the company by both individuals in 2017. The loan also bears an interest of 8 per cent per annum, which allows Mr Hii and Ms Cheah to claim up to 1.6 million additional new shares. The counter rose 0.2 cent or 4.17 per cent to $0.05 at Monday's close.
Raffles Infrastructure: The watch-listed company said on Monday evening that South Korean electronics components firm Magic Micro had emerged as one of its substantial shareholders. Magic Micro took a 20.3 per cent stake in Raffles Infrastructure in an off-market deal at $0.50 per share, totalling about $6.9 million. Shares of Raffles Infrastructure closed at $0.46 on Monday, up 2.5 cents or 5.75 per cent.
