American Real-Estate Firm Plans $500 Million Singapore IPO
September 06 2017 - 3:22AM
Dow Jones News
By P.R. Venkat and Saurabh Chaturvedi
SINGAPORE--KBS Realty Advisors LLC, an American real-estate
investment firm, is planning to raise about $500 million via a
Singapore initial public offering of some of its U.S. office
assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company is in talks with the
asset-management arm of Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp. to form
a joint venture that they plan to list as a real-estate investment
trust later this year, the people said.
The new company, based in Singapore, would have an initial
portfolio of close to a dozen properties, including office
buildings in Seattle, Houston, Denver and other U.S. cities,
according to the people familiar with the planned stock
offering.
If the IPO goes ahead, the company would be the second
Singapore-listed REIT to give investors in the city-state exposure
to U.S. commercial properties. Last year, Canadian insurer Manulife
Financial Corp. raised $470 million with a Singapore listing of
some of its U.S. office properties under a real-estate investment
trust called Manulife US REIT.
Singapore is a sought-after destination for REITs in Asia. The
country is home to more than 40 REITs with a combined market
capitalization of nearly $60 billion. Large and small investors are
drawn to their yields, which average 6% to 7%.
The KBS-Keppel joint venture company could offer an investment
yield of close to 7%, according to people close to the matter, in
line with what Manulife US REIT pays.
Founded in 1992, KBS Realty invests, manages, develops and sells
U.S. commercial real estate on behalf of pension funds,
sovereign-wealth funds and other institutional investors. As of
June 30, the total value of KBS's real estate and real
estate-related investments stood at about $11 billion, according to
the company's website. It owns office towers, hotels, apartment
complexes and other properties all over America.
A spokeswoman for KBS declined to comment. A spokeswoman for
Keppel Capital, the asset-management arm of Keppel Corp., declined
to comment on the tie-up, but said the company is always on the
lookout for opportunities to grow its fund-management business. "We
will evaluate all possible growth avenues, and will issue an
announcement if there is any material development," she said.
Keppel Capital has about $19 billion worth of assets under
management, including real estate, infrastructure and data center
assets in various global markets.
Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com and Saurabh Chaturvedi
at Saurabh.Chaturvedi@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2017 03:07 ET (07:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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