Mapletree Logistics Trust says it has signed a conditional Sale & Purchase Agreement with  supply chain management company CEVA to acquire a warehouse in Changi South for $34 million. Completion of sale is expected within 1Q FY2010.

15 Changi South Street 2 consists of a fully air-conditioned five-storey warehouse facility with ancillary offices and basement carpark. It will have a GFA of 23,176 sqm and is on leasehold land expiring in October 2044.

CEVA will lease back the property for an initial term of five years with a rental escalation of 2% p.a. from the second year onwards, with an option to extend for another 5 years.

The purchase price and other acquisition costs of the property are fully funded by proceeds from the November private placement of 115,000,000 new units to raise up to $82 million to finance acquisitions in Singapore and Japan.

MapletreeLog says the acquisition will be accretive to its distribution per unit (DPU). The proforma financial effect of the acquisition based on the actual full year DPU announced for 2009 is about an additional 0.02 cents or 0.4%.

Chua Tiow Chye, Chief Executive Officer of MapletreeLog, says, “The property is a well designed and prominent building with good specifications on Changi South Street 2 with frontage along Xilin Avenue. The location is within a well established logistics park where MapletreeLog has several other properties such as Tang Logistics Centre, APICO, Goodrich, Kingsmen Creatives and 6 Changi South Lane... The purchase of this building is an example of our “follow-the-client” strategy as CEVA is also our tenant in two properties, one in the vicinity at 6 Changi South Lane and another in Selangor, Malaysia.”