Ascendas India Trustis proposing a private placement of new units at S$0.72 per unit, to raise gross proceeds of approximately S$70m, with an upsize option to raise additional gross proceeds of approximately S$30m. The net proceeds will be used to finance a-iTrust's targeted growth initiatives.

A property fund managed by Keppel Land unit Alpha Investment Partners is said to have inked a deal to acquire a 50% stake in 78 Shenton Way from a global fund managed by Commerz Real, a fully owned unit of Germany's Commerzbank. The transaction values 78 Shenton Way at $608m, or $1,686 psf, on net lettable area (NLA) of around 360,500 sq ft. 78 Shenton Way is on a site with a remaining lease of about 70 years and is said to be about 90% occupied. Market watchers note that with the 78 Shenton Way deal, Alpha is effectively re-entering the Singapore office market at a lower price of $1,686 psf on NLA, compared with the $2,225 psf (or around $293m) at which it exited Robinson Centre late last year.

SMRT Corp plans to sell five-year bonds worth S$350m to fund general corporate needs and capital spending. It plans to issue the notes at a fixed rate of 1.2% on Oct. 5 under its S$1bn multi-currrency medium-term note program.

Ezra Holdingsreceived strong support from its shareholders for the proposed distribution of Triyards Holdings Limited (TRIYARDS) shares through a dividend-in-specie at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held yesterday. Shareholders will receive one TRIYARDS share for every 10 Ezra shares they hold; counter expected to debut on SGX Mainboard on 18 October 2012. Once listed separately, TRIYARDS will have the financial independence to build up its name in offshore engineering & fabrication sector in Asia. Ezra will still benefit from TRIYARDS' growth via its majority 67% stake after the listing.

Sky One Holdingsis proposing to acquire the entire stake in coal mining company Energy Prima for S$400m, via the issue of 1,600m new shares at S$0.25 per share. In connection with the proposed acquisition, it will dispose its existing business (excluding PT Energy Indonesia Resources) to its controlling shareholder and CEO Mr Dicky Suen Yiu Chung for S$6.9m.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is rolling out more flats this year in a bid to arrest runaway price increases and help meet housing demand. An additional 2,000 units will be rolled out this year, bringing the new supply of Built- to-Order (BTO) flats up to 27,000 over the 25,000 originally planned.

Source: DBSV