APL – BT

Japan’s Asia Pacific Land delays S’pore IPO

SINGAPORE – Tokyo-based Asia Pacific Land, or APL Japan Trust, will postpone a planned US$350 million initial public offering in Singapore after it grew concerned about the performance of the issue after the listing, the company said on Friday.

Asia Pacific Land’s decision comes after a disastrous Singapore market debut by Saizen Real Estate Investment Trust, which fell 14 per cent on its debut on Friday.

Saizen last traded at 86 Singapore cents against its IPO price of $1.00.

APL, which owns 9 properties in Japan, had planned to raise as much as $515 million (US$358 million) through an offer of 411.9 million units at $1.05 to $1.25 apiece, according to a prospectus posted last month.

‘There is a risk of post-listing price weakness as a result of negative market sentiment,’ said APL chief executive David Tan in a statement. ‘Weakness in APL Japan Trust’s unit price post listing would raise its cost of capital and make growth by acquisition more challenging.’

A source involved in the listing said APL had attracted sufficient demand to sell the units within the original price range, but chose to drop the listing so as not to upset investors.

Since APL started marketing its units last month, the price of Japanese-listed Reits had fallen about 12 per cent, he added. JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers were the bookrunners for theAPL listing. — REUTERS