North America
In the U.S.:
- The drop was worrisome given that it highlighted a continued slowdown in the economic recovery given the disappointing industrial production released earlier in the week.
- The drop continued the push the theme that the recovery may be decelerating.
REIT Focus:
Mack-Cali Realty (CLI) announced the strategic sale of a 10-building, 1.5M-square-foot commercial portfolio in Morris County, NJ to a joint venture group, including Onyx Equities, Taconic Capital Advisors, L.P., Axonic Capital LLC, and Machine Investment Group for approximately $160M. The portfolio includes nine buildings located in Parsippany, NJ and a building in Madison, NJ.
In China:
- Marks return to positive territory for the first time this year.
- Real estate picked up as aggregate nominal sales turning positive for the first time this year. Residential housing starts remained moderately negative.
In Japan:
- PM Suga secured 74% of the cabinet, the third highest in history.
REIT Focus:
Singapore’s Mapletree Industrial Trust announced plans to purchase a Virginia Data Center for between $200.6M and $262.1M. Property is fully leased on a triple net basis with a balance lease term of more than five years
Europe
In Europe:
- Of note, was a shift in discourse regarding the use of negative rates and how to implement such a policy.
REIT Focus:
After weeks of speculation, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) announced a €9 bn+ “Reset” plan this week aimed at strengthening its balance sheet and increasing its financial flexibility so that it can execute its long term strategy and address the headwinds of the retail shopping sector and the current economic environment. The deleveraging plan comprises four financial pillars: (1) a fully underwritten €3.5 bn equity capital raise via a rights issuance, (2) €4.0 bn of asset disposals (half in retail and half in office and other assets) to be completed by December 2021, (3) €1.0 bn of retained earnings by limiting cash dividends for each of FY20 and FY21 through scrip dividends and/or a lower payout ratio, and (4) a further €0.80 bn reduction in non-essential operating and development pipeline cap ex. Details of the upcoming capital raise are to be determined and announced following approval by at least two-thirds of shareholders during an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be called in November with the expectation that the equity raise would be completed by year end. If completed, the equity raise would be the largest equity issuance in US and European REIT history and equivalent to approximately 65% of URW’s market capitalization. The announcement exemplifies just how far URW has fallen since Unibail-Rodamco first announced plans to merge with Austrailia’s Westfield Corp. in December 2017. The transaction closed in mid-2018.
The views expressed in this update are as of the date of this blog entry. These views and any portfolio holdings discussed in the update are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. The adviser disclaims any duty to update these views, which may not be relied upon as investment advice. In addition, references to specific companies’ securities should not be regarded as investment recommendations or indicative of the Adelante products, strategies, or portfolios.