KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): Quill Capita Trust’s (QCT) acquisition of Platinum Sentral for RM750 million is expected to be completed in the current quarter, following delays in its application for approval from the Securities Commission (SC), said Hong Leong Investment Bank Research (HLIB Research).
“Previously, we expected the deal to be completed in the third quarter, as per earlier guidance.
“However, we understand that QCT had to seek certain exemptions from SC, prior to submitting its full application for the proposed acquisition,” said the research house in a note today, adding QCT had submitted the full application for the proposed acquisition to SC on July 8, which is still pending approval.
The RM750 million deal is to be satisfied by part cash and part issuance of new units in QCT to the vendor, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), which will then emerge as a substantial shareholder of QCT.
Meanwhile, HLIB Research said there was no indication yet, about the composition of the new board of directors of the management company of QCT. However, it expects to get a clearer picture of the future investment strategies of the management company, and how it intends to grow QCT once the new board is appointed.
“We are still positive about QCT’s potential acquisition opportunities, through the Right of First Refusal to be granted by the new shareholder of the management company, namely MRCB.
MRCB had previously indicated its intention to inject at least RM1 billion worth of assets into QCT every year.
HLIB Research said that MRCB has in the pipeline, assets worth some RM20 billion, to be injected into the REIT in the next few years.
“Despite the oversupply office market in the Klang Valley, QCT’s average portfolio occupancy rate stands at 91%, well above the current average occupancy rate for office market in Kuala Lumpur, which is at 81%,” it added.
QCT was last traded at RM1.15 as at 3pm today, with a rolling 12-month yield of 7.16%, according to TheEdge Research. It’s market capitalisation stood at RM456.5 million.