TICON Launches 6,000 million Baht Property Fund with Outstanding Assets in Strategic Manufacturing and Distribution Locations

Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 12:00 HKT/SGT

Source: TICON

BANGKOK, Oct 30, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - TICON is planning to launch 'TICON Industrial Growth Leasehold Property Fund' or 'TGROWTH' with approximately 6,000 million Baht in investment value. The fund will invest in leasehold rights in the land and 40 units of factory of TICON with net lettable area of approximately 121,175 square meters, and leasehold rights in the land and 50 units of warehouse of TPARK, an affiliated company of TICON, with net lettable area of approximately 182,095 square meters. With a balanced mix of 2 types of assets located in major manufacturing and distribution hubs, the fund offers high potential growth opportunities.

Mr. Virapan Pulges, Managing Director of TICON, disclosed that the 'TGROWTH' investment will be divided into 2 parts, namely: Initial Investment Part 1 - The fund will issue investment units through IPO process in order to invest in leasehold rights in the land and 38 units of factory of TICON, for the period of 30 years, and leasehold rights of the land and 50 units of warehouse of TICON Logistics Park Company Limited (TPARK), for the period of 30 years; and Initial Investment Part 2 - The fund will make the investment in leasehold rights of the land and another 2 units of factory of TICON for the period of 30 years, to be funded by loans from commercial banks.

With regard to Initial Investment Part 1, the fund will make the investment in leasehold rights of the land and units of warehouse located at Logistics Park Bang Na and Amata Nakorn (Bang Pakong) Industrial Estate, with total NLA approximate of 182,095 square meters or equivalent to 57 percent of the total NLA to be invested by the fund under Initial Investment Part 1. The remaining portion of 43 percent will be invested in leasehold rights of the land and 38 factory buildings located at an industrial park and industrial promotion zone and industrial estates total of 5 locations, with total NLA approximate of 104,225 square meters. As for Initial Investment Part 2, the fund will invest in leasehold rights of the land and 2 units of factory located at Amata City Industrial Estate.

"The highlight of TGROWTH centers on the properties to be invested by the fund, which consist of standard factories and warehouses for rent with high quality. The diversification of the types of asset to be invested by the fund will lessen the risk of reliance on particular type of asset. The invested factory and warehouses are new with approximate average age of 2 years and 4 months(1), modern and is consistent with international standards. In addition, most of the lessees are leading foreign companies engaged in high-growth industries, which will provide stable rental incomes," said Mr. Virapan.

Mrs. Jotika Savanananda, President of SCB Asset Management as the fund manager, said the fund is now under the consideration of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). The properties to be invested by TGROWTH are located in important strategic manufacturing and distribution locations such as leading industrial park and industrial promotion zone and leading industrial estates in Thailand in which investments are promoted by the Board of Investment (BOI). Furthermore, the fund will also benefit from the establishment of Asean Economics Community (AEC), the improving national infrastructure, and increasing capability of national transportation systems which will, in turn, increase the demand on factories and warehouses for rent in Thailand.

"I believe that TGROWTH, with a mixture of factory buildings and warehouse buildings and strong cooperation from TICON and TPARK as property managers having more than 20 years of experience in developing factory and warehouse for rent in Thailand, will draw strong interest from investors. Moreover, TGROWTH has a policy to invest in additional properties, which will potentially increase investment opportunities and returns for investors in the future," said Mrs. Jotika. She also added that, apart from an opportunity to receive higher return from potential increase in rental rate, the property fund also serves as an attractive investment option because it offers an opportunity for investors to receive stable dividend yields with lower risk than investment in stocks.

(1) The average age of the properties excluding the properties under Initial Investment Part 2 is approximately 2 years and 4 months as of July 31st 2013. Source: TICON and TPARK

- Investment contains risks. Investors should study prospectuses before investing.
- The Office of the SEC is now considering applications for the establishment and management of the Fund.
- The offering of securities will commence when the management company has been granted the approval on the establishment and management of mutual fund from the Office of the SEC and has prepared and distributed approved prospectus and factsheet to investors.

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