CICT to remaining 55% of CapitaSpring, raise $500m from private placement to finance it
The Grade A office tower in Raffles Place has nearly 100 per cent committed occupancy as at end-June.
SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) on Aug 5 announced the proposed acquisition of the 55 per cent of CapitaSpring it does not already own at an agreed property value of S$1.05 billion.
Of this, 45 per cent is from CapitaLand Development (CLD) and 10 per cent is from Mitsubishi Estate. The agreed property value for the whole 51-storey office tower in Raffles Place is $1.9 billion.
The total acquisition outlay is estimated $482.3 million.
Tan Choon Siang, CEO of CICT's manager said: 'CapitaSpring has consistently performed well, maintaining nearly 100 per cent committed occupancy as at 30 June 2025, underpinned by good quality tenants from diverse trade sectors. We are confident in the office tower's long-term potential to capture future growth, supported by sustained demand for quality Grade A office spaces and limited supply in the core CBD.
'Our Singapore exposure will increase from approximately 94 per cent to 95 per cent of our portfolio property value, advancing our strategic goal to deepen our presence in this core market.'
On a pro forma basis, the acquisition is expected to deliver a distribution per unit (DPU) accretion of 1.1 per cent, assuming CICT had held and operated 100 per cent of CapitaSpring's commercial component from Jan 1 to June 30, 2025.
CICT intends to finance it (excluding the acquisition fee related to the acquisition of CLD's 45 per cent interest, which will be paid in CICT units) using proceeds raised through a private placement, which is expected to raise $500 million.
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The proposed placement of over 237.5 million new units will have a minimum offering price of $2.105 per unit.
The issue price range between $2.105 and $2.142 represents a discount of between around 4.1 and 5.7 per cent to the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of $2.2334 per unit for trades of the units executed on Aug 4.
The new units are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on Aug 14.
CICT's manager estimates that the quantum of DPU held as at the close of Aug 13 under the cumulative distribution to be at between 6.92 cents and 7.02 cents.
It also announced on Aug 5 that CICT posted a 3.5 per cent year-on-year rise in its first half DPU to 5.62 cents, which will be paid on or around Sept 18.
Distributable income for the six months ended June grew 12.4 per cent to $411.9 million, compared with $366.5 million in the year-ago period.
This increase was attributed to the income contribution from ION Orchard, which was acquired on Oct 30, 2024, better performance from existing properties and lower interest expenses, partially offset by the divestment of 21 Collyer Quay
CICT units were halted from trading before the market opened on Aug 5. They closed on Aug 4 at $2.24, up 2.3 per cent or five cents.

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He sees a clear path to profitability for robotaxis as hardware costs continue to come down, and the growth in operational scale results in greater efficiency. Currently, Apollo Go deploys a fleet of more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles globally. Its global footprint spans 15 cities, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The company has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority to launch autonomous driving tests and services in the city. Apollo Go will deploy 100 fully autonomous vehicles in Dubai by the end of 2025, with plans to expand the fleet to no fewer than 1,000 by 2028, as the city aims to make 25 percent of all transportation trips autonomous by 2030. It has also teamed up with Auto-Go, a UAE-based autonomous mobility solutions company, with the goal of deploying the largest fully driverless fleet in Abu Dhabi. Initial trials of dozens of autonomous vehicles will be conducted in select areas of the city, with phased expansion ahead of full commercial operations by 2026. 'China is taking the lead in the R&D and application of self-driving technology, and the accelerated expansion of Chinese self-driving companies abroad will propel the commercialization of the state-of-the-art technology on a global scale,' said Zhang Xiang, a visiting professor at the engineering department at Huanghe Science and Technology University. Zhang said authorities in the Middle East and some European countries have a relatively open attitude toward autonomous driving and are promoting the testing and use of robotaxis thanks to technological advancements and cost reductions. 'Chinese self-driving enterprises have strong technical prowess and have accumulated extensive testing and operational experience in the domestic market, so they are eager to play a bigger role in the international autonomous driving sector by leveraging their technological advantages,' he said, adding there is an increasing demand for self-driving vehicles in overseas markets. Emphasizing that ensuring the safety and stability of self-driving vehicles remains a top priority, Zhang called for efforts to improve testing and application scenarios overseas, continuously optimize algorithms, strengthen road infrastructure construction, and reduce the manufacturing costs of driverless vehicle components. New frontiers Chinese self-driving company is poised to increase its global robotaxi fleet to thousands of vehicles over the next two years, with 2025 earmarked as the first year of large-scale commercial deployment. The company recently started road testing its robotaxis in Luxembourg in cooperation with Emile Weber, the country's leading mobility solutions provider, to deploy electric autonomous vehicles in Luxembourg, and accelerate robotaxi application in Europe. James Peng, co-founder and CEO of said the testing marks the beginning of collaboration, innovation, and the advancement of autonomous mobility in both Luxembourg and the continent. announced in April that it had obtained a testing permit for Level 4 autonomous driving from Luxembourg authorities. The authorization expands its global testing footprint, building on existing permits in China, the United States, and South Korea. The company earlier chose Luxembourg as its European hub for research, development, and the deployment of autonomous driving technology. Autonomous driving is categorized from Level 0 to Level 5. The higher the level, the more intelligent the technology and the less the involvement of humans. 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The company established a strategic partnership with Uber in May. The first service is expected to be launched in a key Middle East market before deployment in other international markets. Chinese self-driving startup WeRide is another company accelerating its global expansion, with the Middle East seen as a strategic priority for autonomous driving growth and innovation. It is cooperating with Dubai authorities and Uber under an agreement, pilot operations of autonomous vehicles will commence later this year via the Uber app in Dubai. In the initial phase, the vehicles will operate with a safety driver on board, paving the way for the full-scale commercial rollout of driverless services in 2026. In May, the company and Uber further expanded their partnership to roll out robotaxis in 15 additional major global cities over the next five years, including some in Europe. It has launched fully driverless robotaxi testing in Abu Dhabi, and other cities in the Middle East are being explored for testing. The company is expanding into Saudi Arabia and has rolled out testing or deployment of its robotaxis in cities including Riyadh, setting the stage for commercial rollout and wider operations across the Middle East's largest economy. WeRide's robotaxis support Saudi Arabia's push to develop a smart, sustainable transportation infrastructure for both residents and the rising influx of visitors. Open to innovation The scale of the global robotaxi market is expected to reach $45.7 billion by 2030, rapidly expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 91.8 percent from 2023 to 2030, data from research company MarketsandMarkets shows. 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