Ascott Residence Trust (ART) has entered into agreements to acquire three freehold rental housing properties in central Sapporo for a total of JPY 6.78 billion (SGD 85.2 million1) to expand its rental housing portfolio in Japan. The three rental housing properties ­ City Court Kita 1 jo, Big Palace Minami 5 jo, and Alpha Square Kita 15 jo2 ­ are from unrelated third parties. The average EBITDA yield of the three acquisitions is approximately 4%. The transactions are expected to complete by end June 2021. The acquisition of the three rental housing properties will be funded by debt and part of the net proceeds from recent divestments. The three rental housing properties with a total of 411 units will increase ART's portfolio in Japan to over 4,500 units in 22 serviced residences, hotels and rental housing properties in nine cities. ART will have a total of 14 rental housing properties in Japan including four in Sapporo. The three rental housing properties will be managed by a local property manager, Kabushiki Kaisha Big Service, which is also the current property manager for ART's rental housing property in Sapporo, Big Palace Kita 14 jo.