SINGAPORE—
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.,
T39.SG -0.96%
the city-state's largest publishing company, has delayed a planned
initial public offering of a real-estate investment trust due to weak
global markets, people with knowledge of the deal said Monday.
The offering was expected to raise as much as 540 million Singapore dollars (US$423 million).
SPH's decision comes as other companies in Asia either scrap or scale
back planned offerings due to falling markets that have pushed share
prices of some new trust listings sharply lower.
Jittery global investors have dumped emerging market stocks and
currencies in recent weeks due to indications that the U.S. Federal
Reserve may being winding down its monetary stimulus later this year. A
liquidity crisis China's financial system and the country's slowing
economic growth have also darkened investors' moods.
SPH had planned to start taking orders from institutional investors
this week, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said. It still
plans to proceed with the offering when the time is right but the delay
to order-taking means the REIT isn't likely to list in early July as
originally planned, another person said.
A company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the company is
"monitoring market conditions and will make an announcement at the
appropriate time."
The company last week secured shareholders' approval for the REIT,
which would own two of the company's Singapore shopping malls, the
Paragon and Clementi Mall.
SPH had hoped to benefit from investors' strong interest in trusts.
Dividend-paying investments such as REITs had been in demand in recent
years as monetary stimulus from central banks in developed markets kept
interest rates low.
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