GIC Real Estate, the property arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, is planning global roadshows late next month for an initial public offering (IPO) of its overseas assets worth around US$3 billion ($4.06 billion), Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday citing unnamed sources.
The sources said GIC would launch the IPO at the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Nomura has been appointed to market the IPO in Japan, they said. GIC is likely to file the IPO prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore in early September, said a source.
“It’s moving fast,” the person said.
A GIC spokesperson did not respond to MediaCorp by press time.
If successful, the IPO would be the biggest in Singapore in 17 years since SingTel listed in 1993 and raised $4 billion in three tranches. It would also trump CapitaMalls Asia’s US$2 billion IPO last year.
The sources said GIC planned to list its ProLogis assets in Japan and China in addition to some of its assets in South Korea. In 2008, GIC Real Estate bought ProLogis interests in Japan and China in a deal worth US$1.3 billion to consolidate its existing portfolio in Japan and embark on expanding its logistics property business in China, according to wire reports.
ProLogis is a global distribution facilities provider with 475 million sq ft of industrial space across North America, Europe and Asia.
GIC Real Estate also bought Star Tower, a 45-storey office building in Seoul from Lone Star Funds in 2004.
Source : Today – 18 Aug 2010