SINGAPORE (May 23): Australia’s Lendlease could potentially be the next REIT to list in Singapore, following the footsteps of two recent US REITs.
According to The Australian, Lendlease has appointed investment banks Citigroup and DBS to handle the listing.
The Singapore trust, to be named Lendlease Global Commercial REIT, could be seeded with shopping centre assets worth A$1 billion ($948 million).
Listed on the Australia stock exchange (ASX), Lendlease is a integrated construction, engineering and property company.
Singaporeans may also be familiar with Lendlease given the company partly owns local malls JEM, 313@somerset and Parkway Parade. The group is also involved with the construction of Paya Lebar Quarter.
According to Investmentmoats.com , the REIT’s initial IPO property portfolio could include some of its Australian shopping centres, 313@somerset and Sky HQ office building at Milano Santa Giulia in Milan, Italy.
In future, the REIT could also tap on Lendlease’s A$28 billion pipeline of commercial properties.
Lendlease’s potential listing comes after the recent IPO of ARA Hospitality Trust with Eagle US Hospitality Trust likely to follow next.
The launch comes at a critical time for Lendlease, says The Australian.
Lendlease has been threatened with a potential class-action lawsuit alleging it breached continuous disclosure laws as it tries to push ahead with the sale of its troubled engineering business.
From a recent high of A$17.32 on Nov 7, 2018, the stock has fallen 16.8% to A$14.41 as of 10.21am on Thursday.
