City Developments confirms Reit IPO

The property giant said that relevant applications have been made to regulatory authorities

City Developments Limited (CDL) on Friday morning confirmed that it had applied for an initial public offering (IPO) of a real estate investment trust (Reit) with commercial assets located in Britain to be listed on the Singapore Exchange’s mainboard.

While CDL did not provide a deal value, Bloomberg on Thursday reported that the IPO could raise some £500 million (S$940 million).

Citing unnamed sources, it said the Reit aims to list in the third quarter of this year and will have a portfolio size of nearly £1.8 billion.

In a filing on SGX, the property giant said on Friday that relevant applications have been made to various regulatory authorities, including the exchange and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Its proposed IPO and listing of the Reit are subject to market conditions, among others, it added.

The company wishes to reiterate that no decision has been made as to whether the transaction will take place and there is currently no certainty that the company will proceed with the offering, CDL said.

A successful listing would mark the first Reit IPO on SGX this year.

In a report on Friday, Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said that CDL has included the London building housing HSBC Holdings’ headquarters in the Reit IPO in partnership with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) as part of a plan to boost the Reit’s portfolio.

Deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty that a deal will proceed, said the sources.

At £500 million, the IPO would surpass the US$224 million raised by Aztech Global, the larger of just two listings in Singapore so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It would also be the second sterling-denominated first-time share sale in Singapore, after Elite Commercial Reit’s offering raised about £135 million last year.