Manulife US REIT (MUST) has been given the green light by its unitholders to proceed with the disposal of three existing properties and to acquire properties beyond the US office sector.
At its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Dec 16, 83.1% of MUST’s unitholders voted for the resolution to sell up to three existing properties to raise not more than US$350 million. These resolutions, which will be part of MUST’s growth and value up plan, were announced on Dec 1.
MUST is still US$55.6 million ($72.1 million) short of its end-2025 target as at Dec 1.
About 83.01% of unitholders also approved MUST’s resolution to acquire properties beyond the US office sector into industrial, living and retail assets in the US and Canada. The aggregate agreed property value of properties acquired or investments made must not exceed US$600 million.
According to slides shown at the EGM, MUST says the broadened investment mandate is to “principally invest, directly or indirectly in income-producing real estate in the US and Canada as well as real estate-related assets”.
Both resolutions are inter-conditional.
See also: Manulife US REIT warns of ‘risk of liquidation’ should EGM resolutions fail
The broadened mandate, upon approval, will commence from Jan 1, 2026.
The approval means MUST’s lenders will grant the REIT the master restructuring agreement (MRA) concessions, which will give MUST more time to meet the minimum sale target. On Dec 15, MUST announced that its lenders have given their approval to extend the disposal deadline to June 30, 2026, from Dec 31.
The lenders have also approved the extension of temporarily relaxing the financial covenants. This means MUST’s unencumbered gearing can be extended to not more than 80% compared to 60% from Dec 31 to June 30, 2026. The bank’s interest coverage ratio (ICR) will also be no less than 1.5 times at Dec 31, 2026, from Dec 31 this year.
MUST’s units last traded at 7.4 cents before its trading halt at lunchtime on Dec 16.
