This week, a property and hospitality group moved to take majority control of its REIT’s managers, while fresh data showed Singapore’s investment banking fees reaching their highest level in five years.
We also look at how investors responded to SGX’s smaller board lots on their first day of trading, and the latest on the potential sale of a Central Business District landmark valued at more than S$2 billion.
Far East Orchard Becomes Main Sponsor of Hospitality REIT
Far East Orchard (SGX: O10) is set to become the main sponsor of Far East Hospitality Trust (SGX: Q5T), or FEHT, after agreeing to buy an additional 42% stake in the trust’s managers.
On 5 October 2026, the group entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with FEO Asset Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Far East Organization Centre, for a cash consideration of S$28.3 million.
The deal lifts Far East Orchard’s stake in both the REIT manager and the business trust’s trustee-manager from 33% to 75%.
The acquisition will raise Far East Orchard’s core assets under management (AUM) by around 86% to S$3.9 billion, supporting a new target of at least S$5 billion by FY2030.
It is also expected to deliver immediate pro forma earnings per share accretion of 3.7%, along with higher recurring management fees.
Group CEO Alan Tang said the deal accelerates the group’s FEOR30 strategy and widens its options for capital-light growth.
Completion is expected by the end of 2026.
Singapore’s Investment Banking Fees Hit Five-Year High
Singapore’s investment banking fees rose 9% year on year to US$693.8 million in the first nine months of 2026.
That is the highest nine-month total since 2021, according to LSEG Deals Intelligence’s review released on 5 October 2026.
The Republic accounted for 69.3% of Southeast Asia’s fee pool.
Advisory fees from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) led the gains, jumping 23.7% to US$256 million.
Equity capital markets underwriting fees rose 11.5% to US$159.8 million, and syndicated lending fees climbed 11.3% to US$175.9 million.
Debt capital markets fees, however, fell 24.6% to US$102.3 million.
Overall M&A deal value involving Singapore nearly doubled to US$104.3 billion.
The biggest contributor was GIC’s participation in Anthropic’s US$30 billion funding round in February.
DBS Group (SGX: D05) ranked second in the overall fee league table with US$61.1 million, behind Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).
DBS also led equity underwriting with US$918.2 million.
OCBC (SGX: O39) topped the debt capital markets book runner rankings with US$4.1 billion in underwritten proceeds.
Smaller Board Lots See Strong Uptake on Debut
SGX’s reduced board lot framework made a strong start on 5 October 2026.
Ten-share lots were the most commonly traded size for most of the 11 stocks in the first cohort.
The minimum trading unit for these counters was cut from 100 shares to 10.
The cohort includes the three local banks, Keppel (SGX: BN4), Venture Corporation (SGX: V03) and Singapore Exchange (SGX: S68) itself.
According to Bloomberg data analysed by SGX, more than 20,000 trades were executed in 10-share lots on the first day.
That exceeded the 13,000-plus trades done in 100-share lots.
DBS led with around 5,000 such trades.
Jardine Matheson Holdings (SGX: J36) saw the strongest adoption, with roughly a third of its trades done in 10-share lots.
The two are the highest-priced stocks in the cohort, and DBS closed at S$78.56 that day.
Eight of the 11 stocks recorded higher average daily turnover than on 2 October 2026.
SGX said the change lets investors build and rebalance positions in smaller increments.
One Raffles Place Sale Edges Closer
OUE Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: TS0U), or OUE REIT, confirmed on 8 October 2026 that it is in exclusive talks over the sale of One Raffles Place.
The talks are with entities linked to IOI Properties Group (Bursa: 5249) and CapitaLand Investment (SGX: 9CI).
The REIT manager stressed that due diligence and negotiations are still ongoing.
No binding agreement has been signed, and there is no certainty a deal will happen.
The confirmation followed comments from IOI Properties group CEO Lee Yeow Seng.
He said the pair’s 50-50 joint bid, submitted about three months earlier, had been accepted for exclusive due diligence by the asset’s owners, OUE REIT and United Overseas Bank (SGX: U11).
Lee added that improving the tenant mix in the retail podium would be an early priority.
Market estimates value the property at between S$2.3 billion and S$2.4 billion.
The landmark comprises a 62-storey office tower, a 38-storey office tower and a six-level retail podium, with about 875,000 sq ft of net lettable area.
OUE REIT’s units fell 1.5% to S$0.34 on 8 October 2026.
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