Perennial – BT

Perennial launches S’pore IPO to raise up to S$843m

SINGAPORE – Perennial China Retail Trust, which owns shopping mall assets in China, on Thursday launched an initial public offering to raise as much as S$843 million (US$679.6 million).

The trust, managed by a firm controlled by former CapitaLand retail chief Pua Seck Guan, is selling 563.6-577.8 million units at S$0.70-S$0.76 apiece, according to a prospectus filed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The trust has already signed agreements to sell 504.7 million to 516.7 million units to a group of cornerstone investors including AEW Capital, Henderson Global Investors and Prudential Asset Management.

Perennial said the units will start trading on June 8 but did not indicate when it will price the IPO.

DBS, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered and Citigroup are joint global coordinators and bookrunners.

Perennial originally planned to raise about S$1.1 billion from the IPO but reduced the offer size due to weak market conditions.

According to a note from one of the bookrunners, Perennial has priced its units at a 46-50 per cent discount to net asset value. — REUTERS