Dusit Thani Plc, a leading hotel and property development company, on Friday announced that most unitholders of the Dusit Thani Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund (DTCPF) have voted in favour of converting the fund to DTC Real Estate Investment Trust (DTCREIT).
The DTCPF will now undergo the Security and Exchange Commission Thailand's (SEC) real-estate investment trust (REIT) inception process, expected to be completed by December this year.
Votes were cast by unitholders, representing 99.88% of the total number of investment units held by unitholders attending the meeting.
The process of conversion, dissolution and liquidation will start with Dusit Thani Properties REIT Co Ltd applying for an approval to act as the REIT manager, followed by an application seeking the right to issue and sell trust units.
Upon approval from the SEC to establish the DTCREIT, the REIT manager will be able to issue and sell the trust units of the DTCREIT in exchange for cash, assets and liabilities of the DTCPF.
The final step will involve the dissolution and liquidation of the DTCPF, the delisting of the DTCPF investment units from the Stock Exchange of Thailand, and listing the DTCREIT trust units as securities on the SET.
Suphajee Suthumpun, Dusit Thani group chief executive, said the unitholders' decision to convert DTCPF into DTCREIT will facilitate the company's three-year strategy for sustainable and profitable growth, which includes strengthening its foundations in five areas: personnel development; process improvement; information technology upgrades; property improvement; and enhancement of financial capacity.
"A REIT allows greater growth potential because there are fewer financial restrictions, especially when it comes to borrowing money for property improvement," said Ms Suphajee.