SG Morning Highlights | Keppel Infrastructure Trust to Acquire Majority Stake in Ventura Motors for $540 Million

Singapore shares opened lower on Monday. The $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index (.STI.SG)$ dropped 1.21 percent to 3,141.19 as at 9.03 am.

$Keppel (BN4.SG)$: Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) is acquiring a 98.6% stake in Ventura Motors, the largest bus service business in Victoria, Australia, for an enterprise value of A$600 million ($540 million). Upon completion of the transaction, KIT's assets under management will grow from $8.1 billion to approximately $9.7 billion. Ventura, which transports over 42 million people annually and has the largest market share of public bus services in Victoria, generates over 80% of its revenues from long-term government route services, providing stable, inflation-protected revenues. KIT intends to fund the investment with an optimal combination of internal sources of funds, equity and debt capital market issues, and external borrowings. The transaction is expected to be completed in Q2 2024, subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and Victoria's head of transport.

$Dasin Retail Tr (CEDU.SG)$: Dasin Retail Trust has reported a decline in the fair value of its investment properties after obtaining independent valuations as of June 30, 2023. The trust's properties are now valued at RMB9.09 billion, a 4.6% decline from RMB9.53 billion as of December 31, 2022. In Singapore dollars, the portfolio fell by 8.27% h-o-h to $1.7 billion from $1.85 billion due to the weaker RMB against the SGD. The decline is attributed to a weaker economic and market environment, lower passing rent, negative reversion in rental rate, and lower occupancy rate. As of June 30, 2023, Dasin Retail Trust's occupancy rate was 84.5%, down from 91.5% as of December 31, 2022.