SINGAPORE — Mapletree Commercial Trust delayed its planned one billion Singapore dollar (US$789 million) initial public offering in the city-state due to uncertain market conditions, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
Mapletree Commercial Trust — a unit of Mapletree Investments, which is held by state investment firm Temasek Holdings — was looking to raise the money via a real estate investment trust and had planned to file the IPO prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore Monday, the person said.
"They felt that it is prudent to wait and see. They will launch when market conditions are more favorable," the person said.
According to an indicative timetable seen this month, a one-week management roadshow was expected to commence Tuesday with the listing expected April 8.
Mapletree Investments wasn't immediately available for comment.
However, another person familiar with the transaction Tuesday said the trust hadn't yet finalized a new timetable for the management roadshows.
"They are not in a hurry to launch the IPO, because of the volatility in the market. They have good assets so for them the timing is important."
Mapletree is the latest company to fall victim to the uncertain market conditions caused by the destructive earthquake and tsunami in Japan and worsening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
In the week after the Japanese earthquake, more than US$4.2 billion of IPOs were put on hold in Hong Kong and Singapore. Among them were a $190 million Hong Kong listing by Chinese oilfield equipment provider Hilong Holding Ltd.; the $3 billion offering of Australia's Resourcehouse Ltd.: the $260 million share sale by Perth-based lithium concentrate miner Galaxy Resources Ltd.; and, in Singapore, the $782.6 million IPO of U.S. private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s engineering group, MMI Holdings.
Even before the Japanese quake, investors were already wary of new issues because of the worsening tensions in the Middle East and growing inflation in Asia.
"They [Mapletree Commercial Trust] are still watching how the situation in Japan is unfolding. If they feel that the market sentiment has improved, they could even launch it next month," the second person said.
The group has appointed Citigroup, DBS and Goldman Sachs global co-ordinators on the offer. CIMB and Deutsche Bank are joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners.
Mapletree Commercial trust's portfolio of Singapore properties is valued at about S$2.5 billion.
Last year, parent Mapletree Investments, which owns and manages about S$13 billion in real estate assets around the world, said it was keen to list its commercial-property unit, whose portfolio includes assets such as Singapore's Vivocity, HarbourFront and the Port of Singapore Authority building.
The plan to list Mapletree Commercial Trust came after the parent listed its industrial property unit, known as Mapletree Industrial Trust Ltd., raising S$1.2 billion in 2010.
[ extracted from The Wall Street Journal ]
[ By SAM HOLMES And P.R. VENKAT ]
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