Keppel REIT share price: value buy or do-not buy?

In late 2025, I was seriously contemplating investing in Keppel REIT. That was before Keppel REIT share price blew up in pieces. More than half a year later, I still broke out in cold sweat after dodging the deadly bullet.

Investors of Keppel REIT must be feeling angry with Keppel. After Keppel REIT share price charged up to a 2-year of $1.10 in November 2025, the Manager dropped the bombshell of exercising its pre-emptive rights to acquire the remaining one-third stake in Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 from Hongkong Land for a whopping S$1.45 billion. While that mega deal did bomb out Keppel REIT share price, Keppel compounded matters further.

To support the acquisition, Keppel REIT has launched a mega Equity Fund Raising (EFR) of $886.3 million, leading to 923 million of new units flooding the market. To make matters worse, this mega EFR came right after the $113 million Private Placement in October 2025 to help fund a 75% stake in Top Ryde City Shopping Centre in Sydney. The two EFRs within a short span of time led to huge number of new units being issued, effectively diluting Keppel REIT share price.

Instead of letting the market digest the massive flood of new units, Keppel annoyed investors of Keppel REIT by issuing dividend in specie of Keppel REIT units (yet again) on 7 May 2026. As part of a special dividend, Keppel issued its investors 1 Keppel REIT unit for every 9 Keppel shares held. The problem is that those who invest in Keppel are normally growth investors and may not be dividend income investors. So they are likely to cash out and sell the odd lots of Keppel REIT units given to them.

Based on the trend of Keppel REIT share price in the past 3 months, it is clear that the counter had been under intense selling pressure from Keppel investors. The counter dropped from $0.90 from 4 May to a low of $0.84 on 8 June. To put things into perspective, this was actually the third time that Keppel did this to Keppel REIT. In 2023, Keppel issued 1 Keppel REIT unit for every 5 Keppel shares owned. That exercise cut their direct stake in the REIT down to 37.1%. Prior to that, Keppel issued 8 Keppel REIT units for every 100 Keppel Corp shares owned (a 2:25 ratio) in 2013.

So you see, in Keppel’s eyes, Keppel REIT is effectively used like an asset ATM to issue dividends to its own shareholders. For the individual retail wealth builder holding Keppel REIT, the recurring risk comes from Keppel’s growth investors consistently dumping their unwanted REIT units onto the open market every single time they are issued these special dividends.

Even though Keppel is issuing the Keppel REIT from its stock holdings (and not issuing new Keppel REIT units), the supply overrides fundamental performance as investors are being forced to own Keppel REIT units and not buying the S-REIT due to its business fundamentals.

Despite the slew of headwinds for the past 1 year, value investors must be asking if the current Keppel REIT share price represents value. After all, the mega EFR has effectively protected the balance sheet of the S-REIT. While the funding was rather messy to be honest, I like the fact that MBFC Tower 3 is a premium asset with DBS as its anchor tenant and 99.5% occupancy rate. Furthermore, I really like this transaction as it is a Singapore asset. The long-term upside is definitely there as we all know that there is limited supply of Grade A office in the Central Business District area due to the limited land supply released by the government.

In this article, I will cast aside the noise and focus on a pivotal data that may be worth taking note for value investors. Unlock the article if you think Keppel REIT is worth investing!

Note that this is an opinion article and not meant to be a financial advice. Please do your due diligence or engage financial advisors before investing in the stock market. Furthermore, I am not vested and have never invested in Keppel REIT before. Whether Keppel REIT share price will surge or collapse has no impact on me. Thus, this article is not meant to induce readers to make any form of investment decisions.

Keppel REIT share price in light of end of tunnel

In my previous article, I wrote that I still like this S-REIT due to its long-term value proposition. Although Keppel REIT share price has not dropped to my target level, the counter has somewhat stabilized in recent months and showing signs of bottoming. The key factor for the revival of Keppel REIT share price could be attributed to [This is a premium article. The rest of the content is blocked and can be accessible by SG Wealth Builder Members only. To read the full content, please sign up as member.]

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