FAQs

About Acrophyte Hospitality Trust

1. What is Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
Acrophyte Hospitality Trust (formerly known as ARA US Hospitality Trust) is a pure-play upscale select-service hospitality stapled group, comprising Acrophyte Hospitality Property Trust, a real estate investment trust and Acrophyte Hospitality Management Trust, a business trust. It was listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange on 9 May 2019.

2. What is Acrophyte Hospitality Trust's investment mandate?
Acrophyte Hospitality Trust (“ACRO-HT”) is established with the principal investment strategy of investing, directly or indirectly, in income-producing real estate assets used primarily for hospitality purposes.

3. Who are the Managers and Sponsor of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
The Manager of ACRO-REIT is Acrophyte Hospitality Trust Management Pte. Ltd. The Trustee-Manager of ACRO-BT is Acrophyte Hospitality Business Trust Management Pte. Ltd.

Acrophyte AM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Acrophyte Pte Ltd, the sponsor of ACRO-HT.

Acrophyte is a multinational conglomerate company with businesses in construction, civil infrastructure, precast technology, environmental, property development and investment, hospitality, as well as education.

Acrophyte established itself as a prominent real estate player in the 1990s and has since grown into a multinational conglomerate that includes capabilities (i) across the real estate value chain, comprising real estate construction, real estate development, property investment and asset management, and (ii) in the hospitality industry. As an established player in the hospitality industry, Acrophyte is an owner of hotels in Singapore, Maldives, and Australia, as well as a hotel and serviced residence operator in Singapore under its own brand Momentus.

4. What are the restrictions on the ownership of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust's stapled securities?
To qualify for favorable tax treatment under the U.S. Portfolio Interest Exemption rule, all Stapled Securityholders are prohibited from directly or indirectly owning in excess of 9.8% of outstanding Stapled Securities in Acrophyte Hospitality Trust, subject to any increase or waiver pursuant to the terms of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust's Trust Deed and on the written recommendation of the Managers.

5. Why should I invest in Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
The Managers believe that Acrophyte Hospitality Trust offers:

  • A quality and geographically diversified portfolio of upscale select-service hotels
  • First pure-play upscale select-service hospitality portfolio listed on SGX-ST with superior operating performance
  • Premier hotel branding (Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton branding) with well-established and experienced hotel operators
  • Committed and reputable Sponsor with strong network
  • Stable distributions backed by prudent capital structure, with an attractive distribution yield


6. What is the select-service hotel segment?
A select-service hotel typically offers limited meeting space, modified recreational and retail amenities, and a limited food and beverage offering. Acrophyte Hospitality Trust is focused on owning and operating upscale, premium-branded select-service hotels with efficient and cost-effective operating models in the U.S.

7. What are the Managers' management fees payable by Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
The Managers' management fees comprise of base fees and performance fees.

Base Fee: 10.0% per annum of the Distributable Income of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust (calculated before accounting for base fee and performance fee).

Performance Fee: 25.0% of the increase in distribution per Stapled Security ("DPS") in a financial year over the DPS in the preceding financial year (calculated before accounting for performance fee but after accounting for base fee) multiplied by the weighted average number of Stapled Securities in issue for such financial period. The performance fee is payable if the DPS in any financial period exceeds the DPS in the preceding financial period. For each of Forecast Period 2019 and Projection Year 2020, the difference in DPS shall be the difference in actual DPS in such financial year with the projected DPS.

Investing In Acrophyte Hospitality Trust

1. What are the stock symbols of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
SGX Counter Code: XZL
Security name: Acrophyte Hospitality Trust
Counter name: Acro HTrust USD

2. Are distributions (including return of capital) by Acrophyte Hospitality Trust to Stapled Securityholders taxed in Singapore?
Stapled Securityholders will not be subject to Singapore income tax for ACRO-REIT's distributions made out of taxable income, tax exempt income, return of capital and ACRO-BT's distributions. The Inland Revenue of Singapore does not impose any tax on capital gains. Any gains on disposal of the Stapled securities are not liable to tax provided the Stapled securities are not held as trading assets.

3. Can I invest in Acrophyte Hospitality Trust with funds from my Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) or Central Provident Fund (CPF)?
You can invest in Acrophyte Hospitality Trust with funds from your SRS account through DBS, OCBC and UOB. Acrophyte Hospitality Trust is currently not included under the CPF Investment Scheme.

4. What is the distribution policy of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
The distribution policy is to distribute 100% of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust's Distributable Income for Forecast Period 2019 and Projection Year 2020, and at least 90% thereafter. The distributions will be made on a semi-annual basis.

5. Do Stapled Securityholders have to submit W-8BEN or W-9 Forms?
No, Stapled Securityholders will not be required to submit W-8BEN or W-9 Forms based on existing laws and regulations for Portfolio Interest Exemption purposes.

6. What is the distribution currency of Acrophyte Hospitality Trust?
The distributions will be declared in U.S. dollar.

However, each Stapled Securityholder will receive the distribution in the Singapore dollar equivalent of the U.S. dollar distribution declared, unless the Stapled Securityholder elects to receive the relevant distribution in USD.

Please note that if you are a CDP Securities Account holder with Direct Crediting Service (DCS), Currency Conversion Service (CCY) is automatically provided. If you wish to receive your distribution in foreign currency (i.e. USD), you must OPT OUT of CCY 3 business days before the payment date. For more details on DCS and CCY, please visit investors.sgx.com.

7. Do I need a USD bank account if I elect to receive my dividend in USD?
If you elect to receive your distributions in U.S. dollar, the payment will be made out in cheque (and mailed to your address registered with CDP). For cheques deposited into a Singapore dollar account, distributions will be converted from the U.S. dollar equivalent based on bank's exchange rate.