Manulife US REIT seeks unitholders’ approval for S$473 m property sales and up to S$810 m new buys

SGX Filings12-01

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust on Dec, 1 2025 unveiled a “Growth and Value Up Plan” and will ask unitholders to approve two mandates aimed at reshaping its portfolio and lowering leverage.

Under a proposed Disposition Mandate, effective from Jan, 1 2026, the trust could sell up to three existing US office properties and raise net proceeds of no more than 472.5 million Singapore dollars (about US$350.0 million). Each asset must fetch at least 90 per cent of its latest independent valuation, and the authority will lapse on Apr, 30 2027, after three assets are sold, when proceeds hit the cap, or when aggregate leverage falls below 40 per cent.

A parallel Acquisition Mandate, also starting Jan, 1 2026, would let the manager buy income-producing real estate in the United States and Canada—initially focusing on industrial, living-sector and retail properties—at a total agreed property value of up to 810.0 million Singapore dollars (about US$600.0 million). Purchases must not exceed 110 per cent of independent valuations, be funded with no more than 40 per cent debt, and keep total debt below S$1.08 billion (US$800.0 million). Each asset must show an interest-coverage ratio of at least 1.6 times if the trust’s overall leverage is above 50 per cent.

Concurrently, Manulife US REIT has secured in-principle lender support to extend key milestones in its master restructuring agreement. The disposal deadline moves from Dec, 31 2025 to Jun, 30 2026, while relaxed covenant thresholds—unencumbered gearing of up to 80 per cent and a minimum bank interest-coverage ratio of 1.5 times—will remain in place through mid-2026 and end-2026 respectively, subject to final lender approvals.

The manager said the broader investment mandate reflects ongoing weakness in the US office market. By recycling capital into higher-yielding sectors and paring debt, it aims to reduce aggregate leverage below 40 per cent and rebuild distributions. To date, the REIT has sold three assets for US$273.1 million (about S$368.6 million), achieving 83 per cent of its US$328.7 million (about S$444.0 million) minimum sale target and repaying nearly US$317.0 million of loans.

An extraordinary general meeting will be convened to seek unitholder approval for the mandates.

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