YTL Corp Bhd plans to embark on a restructuring of the RM8 billion real estate investment trust (REIT) and hotel portfolio under its control.

The restructuring exercise will rationalise YTL Corp's retail and hotel asset portfolio by repositioning Starhill REIT as a global hospitality REIT, said its managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.

Speaking to reporters at a media briefing here today, Yeoh said this involved the disposal of its two retail properties, Starhill Gallery and its parcels in Lot 10, to YTL's Starhill Global REIT in Singapore.

It will be followed by the injection of new hotel assets to put Starhill REIT on the path towards becoming a full-fledged international hospitality REIT, he said.

According to Yeoh, the disposal consideration for the retail properties is RM1.03 billion.

The restructuring is expected to complete in six months' time, he said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--YTL Corp. (4677.KU) said Wednesday that it will embark on a restructuring of its MYR8.0 billion real estate investment trust and hotel portfolio.

In a statement, the property and power firm said the restructuring exercise will involve Malaysia's Starhill REIT selling its two retail properties - Starhill Gallery and its parcels in the Lot 10 building in Kuala Lumpur - to Singapore's Starhill Global REIT (P40U.SG) for S$424.4 million.

Starhill Global will also buy the David Jones Building in Perth, Australia for S$148 million.

YTL said that Singapore-listed Starhill Global will have a portfolio size of S$2.5 billion in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and China after the restructuring.

Following the sale, Malaysia's Starhill REIT will be "well-positioned" as a global hospitality REIT, the first such operation in the country, the company said.

Starhill REIT currently has two assets--the JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur and 60 units of serviced apartments at The Residences at The Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur.

YTL Corp. Managing Director Francis Yeoh said that the Malaysian REIT will eventually add other Malaysian properties like the Pangkor Laut Resort, Tanjong Jara Resort, and Ritz Carlton Hotel Kuala Lumpur to its portfolio. It will have a fund size of MYR1.6 billion, he said.