Real-estate developer Overseas Union Enterprise is considering setting up a commercial real estate investment trust to be listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the company said yesterday.
The initial portfolio of the proposed REIT is expected to include OUE Bayfront, an 18-storey office building at Collyer Quay, as well as commercial properties owned by Lippo China Resources, the company said in a filing to the exchange.
It has not decided on the size and time-frame for the offering, it added.
The announcement comes exactly two months after the company’s hospitality REIT was listed on the main board of the SGX.
OUE Hospitality Trust, which owns the five-star Mandarin Orchard hotel and the adjoining Mandarin Gallery shopping mall, had raised S$600 million in its initial public offering.
The announcement also comes as OUE, stung by its failure to buy out Singaporean conglomerate Fraser and Neave earlier this year, seeks to diversify its predominantly Singaporean portfolio with acquisitions in United States cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In March, the company bought the US Bank Tower, the tallest building in Los Angeles and some related properties for US$367.5 million (S$461 million).
OUE is controlled by Executive Chairman Stephen Riady, son of Mr Mochtar Riady, who controls Indonesia’s Lippo Group. Lippo’s businesses across Asia include real estate, financial services and food.
Source : Today – 26 Sep 2013