• Daiwa House Logistics Trust (DHLT), Asia-focused logistics REIT with high quality modern properties, made its debut on SGX today. The IPO Portfolio has an appraised value of S$952.9 million and comprises of 14 logistics properties in Japan with an aggregate NLA of approximately 423,920 sq m.
   
• The Sponsor, Daiwa House Industry, is one of the largest construction and real estate development companies in Japan and has deep knowledge of the logistics asset class, with a substantial pipeline in Japan as well as a growing portfolio across Southeast Asia.
   
• A total of 8 cornerstone investors have subscribed for an aggregate of 336 million units, which represents 49.8% of the base units at IPO. The REIT forecasts distribution yields of 6.3% and 6.5% in 2021 and 2022 respectively based on an offer price of S$0.80.

Daiwa House Logistics Trust (DHLT) is established with the investment strategy of principally investing in a portfolio of income-producing logistics and industrial real estate assets located across Asia.

The initial portfolio of DHLT (IPO Portfolio) as at the Listing Date will comprise 14 logistics properties in Japan with an aggregate net lettable area (NLA) of approximately 423,920 sq m and a total land area of approximately 420,393 sq m. The appraised value of the IPO Portfolio is approximately ¥80,570.0 million (S$952.9 million).

Key Investment Highlights based on the IPO Prospectus (click here, see Page 6 for full details)

1. Strong sponsor
   1. Well-established sponsor - The Sponsor, Daiwa House Industry, is one of the largest construction and real estate development companies in Japan and is listed on the TSE, with a market capitalisation of JPY 2,491.1 billion (S$29.5 billion) as of 30 Sep 2021. Daiwa House Industry has deep knowledge of the logistics asset class, with a substantial pipeline in Japan as well as a growing portfolio across Southeast Asia. As of 30 Sep 2021, it has completed nine logistics assets across SEA and has five logistics facility projects under development across Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
       
   2. Significant synergies between Sponsor and DHLT – The REIT manager believes that this provides a distinct advantage over logistics real estate peers.
       
2. Favorable fundamentals for logistics properties across Japan as well as Southeast Asia
   1. Proliferation of third-party logistics (“3PL”) and e-commerce - Drives demand for logistics real estate, supporting both multi-tenanted and single-tenanted formats.
       
   2. Scarcity of high-quality, modern logistics facilities in Japan – Modern logistics facilities (rental logistics facilities with a gross floor area (GFA) exceeding 5,000 sq m owned by real estate companies, etc.) for instance only accounted for 3% to 4% of total stock of logistics GFA in Japan in 2019.
       
   3. Attractive local conditions - Evidenced by rental rate growth and high occupancy, both in the Greater Tokyo Area and across Japan’s core regional markets.
       
   4. Strong growth potential for logistics and industrial assets throughout Southeast Asia - Within Southeast Asia, the markets of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, where the Sponsor has developed a pipeline of logistics properties, have strong historical growth in GDP ranging from 4.9% to 6.8% CAGR from 2015 to 2019. The aggregate GDP of the three markets in 2020 was US$1.7 trillion.
       
3. High-quality logistics IPO Portfolio
   1. High occupancy rates anchored by a diversified blue-chip tenant base - As of 1 Oct 2021, DHLT’s IPO Portfolio’s occupancy rate is 96.3%. DHLT’s IPO Portfolio has 26 tenants and all the properties are fully occupied, apart from DPL Sapparo Higashi Kariki and DPL Koriyama.
       
   2. Long Weighted Average Lease Expiry (WALE) across IPO Portfolio – The IPO Portfolio’s aggregate WALE by NLA is 7.2 years as of 30 Jun 2021.
       
   3. Commitment to environment, social and governance (ESG) principles - Approximately 95.7% of the IPO Portfolio by NLA is certified green by the DBJ Green Building Certification Programme, a programme in Japan which evaluates and measures the environmental and social awareness characteristics of real estate properties.
       
   4. Modern facilities developed by the Sponsor – The Sponsor has created and defined two brand formats for its logistics projects, namely “DPL” and “D Project”.
      1. DPL brand: Multi-tenanted properties with high-end specifications offering premium quality, standardised rental spaces.
      2. D Project brand: Single-tenanted build-to-suit (BTS) properties with customisations including temperature control facilities, electric power capacities, higher floor loads and other specialised features tailored to meet the exact needs of tenants.
   5. Strategic locations with proximity to transportation and shipping infrastructure – The IPO Properties are closely interlinked with transportation and shipping networks, which is attractive for DHLT’s large 3PL and e-commerce tenant base.
       
4. Well-diversified IPO Portfolio
   1. Properties diversified across the Greater Tokyo Area and core regional market throughout Japan - DHLT offers a diversified IPO Portfolio of properties spread across various regions in prime industrial locations to minimise concentration risk, and to take advantage of markets which have traditionally been overlooked by existing Japanese-listed and private REITs.
       
   2. Mix of BTS single-tenanted and multi-tenanted properties – A balance of both long-term stability and opportunities for rent increases upon lease renewals.
       
   3. Balanced mix of freehold and leasehold asset - The IPO Portfolio’s weighted average leasehold land tenure by NLA is approximately 38.3 years as of 30 Jun 2021. Additionally, 84.8% of the IPO Portfolio consists of properties which are either on freehold land interests, or leasehold land interests with expiry dates exceeding 40 years as of 30 Jun 2021.
5. Resilient cash flows supporting an attractive DPU Yield
   1. Resilient rental cash flows despite the COVID-19 pandemic – With the majority of the IPO Portfolio’s tenants comprising 3PL and e-commerce players, the necessary function of storing and shipping essential goods remains largely unabated with no impact on the financial performance of the properties.
       
   2. Attractive Distribution per unit (DPU) yields for unitholder – The REIT Manager believes that the forecasted and projected DPU yields of 6.3% (annualised based on the Forecast Period 2021) and 6.5% (based on the Projection Year 2022) represent attractive spreads of 625 bps and 645 bps compared to the 10-year Japan government bond yield of 0.05%.

Key strategies (See Page 197 of the IPO Prospectus for more information on strategy)

1. Proactive asset management and asset enhancement to optimise the cash flow and value of DHLT Properties.
    
2. Investments and acquisition growth strategy to enhance the return to the unitholders and to pursue opportunities for future income and capital growth. In relation to DHLT’s future investments in Japanese logistics or industrial properties, its strategy is to not acquire on an individual standalone basis, a Japanese logistics or industrial property with a value of less than JPY 1 billion, unless such property is being acquired on a portfolio basis with other properties.
    
3. Capital management strategy to employ an appropriate mix of debt and equity in financing acquisitions and asset enhancement.
    
4. Management team/Governance has extensive experience and strong capabilities to independently source for suitable investments for DHLT.
    
5. Sustainability policy to be created to include ESG considerations in the operations of DHLT. The Manager also aim to obtain high ESG ratings from established benchmarks.

Key risks (See Page 92 of the IPO Prospectus for full list of risks)

1. Amenities and transportation infrastructure near the IPO Properties may not be completed or implemented as planned, reducing the attractiveness of the properties.
    
2. DHLT’s reliance on key tenants creates risk for DHLT’s business. For instance, the top three key tenants of DHLT contributed 33.3% of the Gross Revenue of the IPO Portfolio for FY2020.
    
3. DHLT Group may face significant competition in seeking tenants and difficulties in finding replacement tenants.
    
4. DHLT may be adversely affected by economic and real estate market conditions, as well as changes in regulatory, environmental, and other governmental policies.

Financials and Valuations

• Net property income (NPI) for financial year (FY) ended 31 Dec 2020 was S$54.8 million, up 87% from S$29.3 million in FY ended 31 Dec 2018. NPI for financial period ended 30 Jun 2021 was S$26.8 million. NPI for Forecast Period 2021 (1 Oct to 2021 to 31 Dec 2021) is S$13.1 million and Projection Year 2022 is S$52.6 million.
   
• Distributable income to Unitholders for Forecast Period 2021 and Projection Year 2022 are S$8.4 million and S$35.3 million, respectively. This would imply a distribution yield of 6.3% and 6.5% respectively based on an offer price of S$0.80.
   
• According to the IPO prospectus, DLHT's price to net asset value ratio (P/NAV) is 1.05x which is calculated based on an offer price of S$0.80 and net asset value per unit of S$0.76.

Cluster of Industrial REITs on SGX

Amongst the 8 Industrial REITs currently listed on SGX (aside from DHLT), only Mapletree Logistics Trust holds assets located in Japan, based on company info as of 9 Nov 2021.

Additional Information from Prospectus (click here)

IPO details

• Offer price at S$0.80 per unit
• Offered units 244.4 million units
  • 219.4 million units under Placement Tranche
  • 25.0 million units under Public Offer
• Estimated IPO market capitalisation at S$540 million based on 675 million outstanding Units immediately after completion of the Offering
• Balloting results: The placement tranche was 4.9 times subscribed while the public tranche was 9.5 times subscribed.
• Use of total proceeds (S$996.5 million):
  • S$840.5 million – Payment of purchase consideration for IPO portfolio
  • S$27.3 million – Transaction costs
  • S$26.2 million – Issue expenses
  • S$67.9 million – Refundable consumption tax
  • S$19.1 million – Cash reserves required by lenders
  • S$15.4 million – Working capital

Cornerstone Investors

• The following Cornerstone Investors subscribed to 336.1 million Units at the Offer Price:
  • Bangkok Life Assurance Public Co. Ltd
  • Credit Suisse AG, Singapore Branch and Credit Suisse AG, Hong Kong Branch (on behalf of certain of their private banking clients)
  • DBS Bank Ltd. (on behalf of certain wealth management clients), DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. (on behalf of certain wealth management clients)
  • DWS Investments Australia Limited
  • Kuang Ming Investments Pte Limited
  • Nomura Singapore Limited (on behalf of certain wealth management clients)
  • Hazelview Securities Inc

Metro ARC Investments Pte. Ltd.