Keppel Land distributes K-REIT to shareholders

As expected by investors of Keppel Land, the company have obtained approval from its stakeholders to distribute in specie the shares of K-Reit. K-Reit Asia was set up by Keppel Land consisting of 4 prime office towers in Singapore. They are Prudential Towers, Keppel Tower, GE Tower and the Bugis Junction office towers. Investors in Keppel Land stand to obtain one K-Reit share for every 5 Keppel Land share held. After this distribution, Keppel Land is still expected to hold up to 40% of K-Reit. K-Reit is expected to start listing on the Mainboard of SGX on 28th April 2006.

Ever since the announcement for this plan, Keppel Land's share price have run up considerably. Prices of Keppel Land have exceeded analysts recommended target prices. In addition, its bid partner Harrah's has been regarded as a relatively weaker partner compared to other bidders. However, Keppel Land has the potential for merger with the larger government linked Capitaland. This could be expected as Temasek Holdings which hold direct and indirect stakes in these 2 companies will continue to divest more stakes in Singapore and move into Asia.