By Chun Han Wong
SINGAPORE--Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd. (K11.SG) said Friday it is planning to list a real-estate investment trust, focused on data centers, on the Singapore Exchange.
Keppel T&T, a unit of Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp. (BN4.SG), is still reviewing its plans for the proposed REIT, such as the trust's portfolio, as well as the size and timing of the IPO, it said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange. Those plans are dependent on market conditions and regulatory approvals, among other things, it said.
According to people with knowledge of the deal, Keppel T&T is looking raise more than 500 million Singapore dollars (US$400 million) from the IPO. The REIT could be listed late in the first quarter of this year, and would hold assets from its local and overseas data center businesses, the people said.
Keppel T&T operates data centers in Singapore, Europe, Australia and Malaysia. The company along with AEP Investment Management, a Singapore-based company that specializes in cross-border real-estate investment strategies, also operates Securus Data Property Fund, a Shariah-compliant data center fund that invests in a global portfolio of high quality data-center assets.
Keppel Corp., in which state-investment company Temasek Holdings has a roughly 20% stake, has business interests ranging from building rigs to real estate and owns about 80% of Keppel T&T.
Singapore is a sought-after destination for trust listings and has benefited from investors seeking higher yields at a time of low interest rates. Singapore laws stipulate that companies that list their assets through REITs have to pay yield for their lifetime to their unit holders. There are no rules governing yields of other types of investment trusts, which could hold assets ranging from ports to telecom, although most of them provide yields for a set period.
Singapore is Asia's biggest center for trust listings. Last year, of the more than US$5 billion raised via IPOs in Singapore, close to 90% was of business trusts, including REITs.
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Should be this way.
ReplyDeleteRemembered ex-CEO said that this is the better way to reward shareholders and let shareholders decided for themselves to keep for future income stream or to monetize for immediate cash.