SINGAPORE (Dec 8): Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail (LMIR) Trust is seeking to raise about $40 million through a share placement to partly fund an acquisition of a shopping centre in South Jakarta.

It will place out 117.6 million new units at 34 cents each to institutional and other investors, according to a regulatory filing.

The placement price is a 8.4% discount to the REIT's closing price of 37.1 cents last Friday.

LMIR said in September that it intended to buy Lippo Mall Kemang, a five-storey mall in Jakarta, in a $385.7-million deal that would boost the size of its portfolio by 27% to $1.8 billion.

It had initially planned to raise $110 million for the acquisition but decided to downsize the amount after reviewing its capital structure, according to today's statement.

"With the revised capital structure, the resultant accretion arising from the acquisition is expected to be more favourable," it said.

LMIR will use debt and internal funds for the remaining consideration. Its gearing is expected to remain below 35%.

Lippo Mall Kemang's occupancy rate was 92.8% as at June 30.

In business since 2012, the mall is the only retail component in a proposed integrated development that will include a J.W. Marriot hotel, a school, a country club and seven towers of residential units.

As of April 30, the mall had four anchor tenants and almost 200 other tenants including Fitness First and Best Denki.