TPG Capital Asia has picked banks to help prepare an initial public offering of its pathology business in the region that could raise as much as $800 million in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The private equity firm is working with Citigroup Inc. and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. on the planned first-time share sale of Pathology Asia Holdings Pte, said the people. Credit Suisse Group AG and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. are also working on the offering, they said, asking not to be named as the process is private. A listing in the city-state could take place as soon as the end of this year, the people said.
Pathology Asia joins renewable energy firm Sunseap Group Pte, Thai Beverage Pcl’s brewery unit and City Developments Ltd.’s UK asset real estate investment trust in seeking an IPO in Singapore. The country has only seen one new listing this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Aztech Global Ltd. raised about US$224 million ($301.8 million) in an offering this month.
Deliberations are ongoing and the size and timing of the IPO could change, said the people. Representatives for Citi, CIMB, Credit Suisse, DBS and TPG declined to comment.
TPG reached out to prospective advisers for proposals on the pathology unit IPO, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. The buyout firm has grown the business from its initial 39 pathology laboratories, which TPG purchased from Healthscope Ltd. in 2018 for A$279 million ($285.4 million), a person familiar with the matter has said. It is now worth about US$2 billion, the person said.
TPG Capital Asia manages about US$9.9 billion in assets, according to its website. The arm of global buyout firm TPG has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mumbai, and Singapore.
Pathology Asia Holdings, originally formed out of the Healthscope purchase, includes the Quest Laboratories brand in Singapore and Vietnam, and Gribbles Pathology in Malaysia. It announced the acquisition of Singapore’s Innovative Diagnostics Pte in 2018, and bought a minority stake in Australian drug testing company Safe Work Laboratories Pty the following year.
