Capitamall Trust (CMT), the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in Singapore and a wholly-owned unit of CapitaLand, has announced that it has repurchased convertible bonds (CBs) for approximately $100 million (plus accrued interest) for a total cash consideration of $105.25 million.
“We saw an opportunity to proactively reduce our debt exposure for next year,” said Simon Ho, chief executive of CapitaMall Trust Management Ltd (CMTML).
The repurchased CBs, which was funded in cash from internal resources, were part of the $650-million convertible bonds issued on July 2, 2008 to finance the acquisition of The Atrium @ Orchard.
Due in 2013, the CBs have a $3.39 conversion price.
Recently, the trust issued four-year and seven-year notes through its Multi-currency Medium Term Notes Programme, and with the repurchase of the CBs, CMT’s gearing will likely to drop slightly.
Mr. Ho said that “after this repurchase, CMT continues to have enough cash for its asset enhancement initiatives as well as general working capital.”
CMT acquired The Atrium in May 2008 for approximately $839.8 million, or about $2,249 psf of net lettable area. The first three levels of the development will be converted to retail space and will be linked to Plaza Singapura.