CapitaLand Ascott Trust’s Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto divested for JPY6.18 billion

CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) divested Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto in Japan to an unrelated third party for about JPY6.18 billion.

The 124-unit property was divested at 40.1 percent above book value at an exit EBITDA yield of about 0.3 percent.  Net proceeds of the divestment are JPY4.4 billion and CLAS has recognised a net gain of JPY0.9 billion. 

Serena Teo, chief executive of CLAS’ management firms CapitaLand Ascott Trust Management Limited and CapitaLand Ascott Business Trust Management Pte Ltd, said: “The divestment of Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto is in line with [our] 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 Securityholders.”  

At present, Japan remains a key market for CLAS and is one of the company’s strongest performing markets.  In light of the divestment, CLAS will continue to seek opportunities to strengthen its portfolio in the East Asian country.

Other developments

Teo added that the recently announced proposal to acquire lyf Funan Singapore also demonstrates CLAS’ ability to enhance value for Stapled Securityholders by using proceeds from its divestment of Citadines Mount Sophia Singapore at an exit EBITDA yield of 3.2 percent towards the proposed acquisition of lyf Funan Singapore at a higher yield of 4.7 percent.  

In the first half of this year, 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.  

Teo said of these: “The acquisitions will strengthen our income stream, creating sustainable value for our Stapled Securityholders.”