ITOCHU Acquires 2% Stake from Mapletree in Mapletree Industrial Trust

Singapore, 14 January 2009 – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree”) today announced that ITOCHU Corporation (“ITOCHU”) has acquired a 2% stake for about S$15 million (approximately ¥900 million) from Mapletree in Mapletree Industrial Trust (“MIT”). MIT is a private real estate fund sponsored by Mapletree that was set up to hold the S$1.71 billion portfolio of high-rise, ready-built industrial properties acquired from JTC Corporation (“JTC”) on 1 July 2008.

With ITOCHU’s acquisition, Mapletree’s direct stake of 25.1% has been reduced to 23.1%. The other stakeholders of MIT are Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), which holds 56.5%, and Mapletree Industrial Fund (“MIF”), a pan-Asian private real estate industrial fund sponsored by Mapletree, which holds the balance 18.4%.

Mr Phua Kok Kim, CEO (Industrial) of Mapletree said, “We are pleased to further strengthen Mapletree’s alliance with ITOCHU by having them on board as a stakeholder in Mapletree Industrial Trust. ITOCHU’s investment not only underlines their confidence in MIT’s high quality portfolio of assets, but also deepens our strategic alliance forged since October 2005 to collaborate on logistics, industrial, retail and commercial real estate sector classes in Japan, Singapore and the rest of Asia. We look forward to more of such collaborations with ITOCHU for our mutual benefit.“

Mr Yoichi Sonoda, General Manager, Construction & Realty Department No. 2 of ITOCHU said, “This investment is ITOCHU’s first real estate-related one in Singapore since 1997. It therefore represents a landmark in ITOCHU’s ambition to re-focus on Asia Pacific markets outside Japan as well as our strategic partnership with Mapletree. The scale and quality of Mapletree Industrial Trust is a significant start for us as we seek to expand our investments and presence across Asia, and offer ITOCHU’s global network of companies to our partner.”

Mapletree first formed a strategic alliance with ITOCHU in October 2005 to collaborate on logistics and industrial real estate projects in Asia.  In November 2007, Mapletree and ITOCHU extended its collaboration to retail and commercial real estate and ITOCHU’s acquisition of a stake in MIT is its first investment in a Mapletree-sponsored property fund.

The properties acquired from JTC were officially transferred to MIT on 1 July 2008. They comprise 39 blocks of flatted factories, 12 amenity centres, six stack-up and one ramp-up buildings, three multi-tenanted business park buildings (the Synergy & the Strategy at the International Business Park and the Signature at the Changi Business Park) and one warehouse building. Mapletree’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd, is the manager of the properties.

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About Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd

Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree) is a leading real estate company in Singapore with an Asian focus.  It owns real estate assets of approximately S$5.7 billion, comprising office, business park, logistics, industrial and retail/lifestyle properties. Under its various capital management platforms, Mapletree has an additional S$5.2 billion of third party assets under management (AUM) across Asia.

Mapletree has extensive skills and experience in managing industrial and logistics properties and in structuring and managing REITs. It is the Sponsor for Mapletree Logistics Trust (MapletreeLog), the first Asia-focused logistics real estate investment trust in Singapore as well as for Mapletree Industrial Fund (MIF) and Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT).

Mapletree holds a 40% stake in MIF, a private real estate fund which invests in industrial real estate across Asia for yield and capital appreciation, and a 30.5% stake in MIT, held both directly and indirectly through MIF. Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank’s AUB Pan Asian Industrial Fund is a cornerstone investor in MIF, while Arcapita Bank B.S.C., an international investment bank headquartered in Bahrain, is the majority stakeholder in MIT. Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd (“MIFM”) is the Manager for both MIF and MIT.

For more information, please log on to www.mapletreeindustrial.com.

About ITOCHU Corporation

The history of ITOCHU Corporation (hereinafter "ITOCHU") dates back to 1858 when the Company's founder Chubei Itoh commenced linen trading operations. Since then, ITOCHU has evolved and grown over 150 years into a sogo shosha, engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textiles, machinery, information and communications-related products, metals, products related to oil and other energy sources, general merchandise, chemicals, and provisions and food. In addition, ITOCHU has made multifaceted investments in insurance agencies, finance, construction, real estate trading, and warehousing as well as operations and businesses incidental or related to those fields.

Under the former mid-term management plan "Frontier-2006," ITOCHU reached its objective of "becoming a Highly Profitable Corporate Group achieving over ¥100 billion in consolidated net income in a steady and sustainable manner."

ITOCHU will now move forward with the implementation of our new mid-term management plan, "Frontier+ 2008," under which we will adopt an even more aggressive management policy and strive to enhance corporate value on the world stage, in order to become "a Global Enterprise that is highly attractive to all stakeholders."