Macquarie-Backed UIB Proposes Singapore Industrial REIT

A half-year after having been established as a regional industrial real estate platform based in Singapore, a Macquarie-backed venture has filed to list a real estate investment trust on the city-state’s stock exchange. 

UIB, a Macquarie Asset Management controlled company co-invested by Unified Industrial and Boustead Singapore, is sponsoring a proposed listing of Singapore logistics and industrial real estate assets as a trust on the SGX, according to a filing on Tuesday.

The REIT would hold Boustead Singapore’s stakes in the industrial properties, as well as other assets, Boustead said in the filing on behalf of UIB. Unified and Boustead established UIB in March with Macquarie owning the majority of the new comany. The potential for a REIT listing was first announced to the exchange on 12 June.

UIB is proposing the REIT just one week after Reuters reported that the property investment unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is teaming up with Partners Group and a unit of Rava Partners in an effort to list a separate industrial real estate trust on the Singapore exchange. Centurion Holdings is expected to launch a Singapore REIT IPO this month.

Targeting a $776M Valuation

UIB’s announcement did not provide further details on the proposed trust, however, market analysts indicated that the company is targetting a S$1 billion market capitalisation for the REIT, with UOB leading the underwriting. With demand for industrial assets in Singapore on the rise, the sponsors are said to be aiming to list the REIT within this year. 

Tokyo-based Unified Industrial, a Macquarie Asset Management portfolio company, in March acquired the property and fund management business of SGX-listed Boustead Singapore to set up UIB as regional real estate investment platform with Macquarie Asset Management taking a controlling stake in the company.

The partners said at the time that they were seeking to establish UIB as a property investment management business with $3.5 billion in assets under management across Japan, China, Singapore and Vietnam. Macquarie representatives declined to comment when contacted by Mingtiandi and Unified Industrial had yet to reply to inquiries by the time of publication.

The portfolio assets for the proposed REIT are expected to come from Boustead Industrial Fund, a private vehicle which the Singapore developer set up with backing from SGX-listed Metro Holdings in 2021.

Boustead Industrial Fund held a portfolio of more than 212,000 square metres (2.3 million square feet) of assets valued at S$812 million ($630 million) as of 31 March, according to Boustead’s most recent annual report. The 15 assets in the fund generated a loss of S$58 million in the 12 months ending 31 March on S$56 million in revenue, after suffering a S$32 million loss in the preceding year.

In an investor presentation on 23 May, Metro Holdings listed 10 Tukang Innovation Drive, a Jurong West industrial property leased to MTU Asia, a local unit of Rolls Royce’s marine engine subsidiary, as the largest asset in the portfolio at 266,947 square feet. The second largest asset is 351 Braddell Road, a five-year-old light industrial building in the Thomson area which measures 236,864 square feet.

In announcing the REIT application, Boustead cautioned that the proposed listing is subject to market conditions, regulatory and shareholder approvals and other potential hurdles, with no final decision having yet been made about whether the trust will be launched on the exchange.

REITS on the Rise

With Singapore’s compounded three-month SORA benchmark interest rate having fallen to 1.55 percent this week from nearly 3.5 percent a year earlier, UIB is preparing for its Singapore REIT as changing market conditions revive one of Asia’s largest markets for listed real estate trusts after an extended slowdown.

“We are finally seeing some recovery for the REIT sector,” said Vijay Natarajan, real estate and REIT analyst at RHB Singapore. “We have seen SORA come down sharply, which is providing relief for REITs as it triggers some flows out of fixed income investments. With interest rates coming down, this provides some impetus for the REIT sector as we move into 2026.”

Last week, Reuters reported that JD Property and Switzerland’s Partners Group have teamed with Rava Partners’ EZA Hill unit in preparations for a $1 billion Singapore REIT, targeting a 2026 market debut. The three partners joined together last month to buy a set of four Singapore industrial properties from CapitaLand Ascendas REIT for S$329 million, after JD and EZA Hill had picked up three properties from an ESR fund in 2024.

Also headed to market with a Singapore REIT is the city-state’s Centurion Holdings. The rental accommodation specialist said in July that it would seed its trust with 14 properties, with the goal of listing a $1.4 billion portfolio. No official date has been set for Centurion’s REIT IPO, but the trust is expected to be launched this month.

Note: This story has been updated to clarify that UIB is controlled by Macquarie Asset Management, and not a joint venture with Boustead Singapore.