Macquarie Office Trust to raise $800m

Macquarie Office Trust has announced more than $800 million of capital raising and cash-conserving initiatives, in a bid shore up its balance sheet and improve liquidity in the face of the global financial downturn.
The Macquarie Group satellite said it had raised $343 million from institutional
investors on Friday, and sold its stake in the Wachovia Financial Centre in the
United States for $279 million.
The capital management initiatives also include the trust not paying a distribution
for the December quarter, which should save $44 million, which is part of a cash
flow retention of $82 million.
In addition, a revised payout ratio of 70 per cent of core earnings in 2009 should
conserve a further $38 million.
Macquarie Office said in a statement on Friday that the initiatives were also aimed
at positioning the trust to enhance returns for investors over the long term and
would be used to refinance and /or repay $1.4 billion of debt expiring in 2009.
The trust said it had agreed to an extension of the syndicate debt facility to
September 2011 from its September 2009 maturity date.
"These initiatives will provide the trust with a solid platform to move forward,"
said Macquarie Office chief executive Adrian Taylor said in a statement.
"They will reshape the balance sheet, strengthening it by reducing gearing and
significantly reducing refinancing risk."