Sasseur REIT launches IPO for $396m

Twelve cornerstone investors, including JD.com’s subsidiary, have committed to subscribe to 46.1% of the proceeds.

Sasseur REIT launched a $396m initial public offering (IPO) with a market capitalisation of $944.2m. It is poised to be first outlet mall REIT to be listed in Asia, it said.

According to an announcement, it is offering of 266,562,500 units, including 13,750,000 units for the public offer at a price of 80 cents. This currently the biggest IPO listing in the Singapore Exchange so far this year, Thomson Reuters data revealed.

The REIT said 12 cornerstone investors committed to subscribe for approximately 46.1% of the gross proceeds. Some of the investors comprise JD.com’s subsidiary Adroit Ideology Limited, Bangkok Life Assurance Pcl., CKK Holdings Pte. Ltd., Credit Suisse, DBS Bank, and DBS Vickers Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Sasseur REIT chairman and non-executive director Xu Rongcan said, “This attests to Sasseur REIT’s unique investment proposition which offers investors the opportunity to benefit from the strong growth potential in the fast-growing outlet mall industry driven by the growing consumption power of the expanding middle-class population in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).”

Sasseur REIT has an initial portfolio comprising four properties across three cities in the PRC: Sasseur (Chongqing) Outlets and Sasseur (Bishan) Outlets in Chongqing City, Sasseur (Hefei) Outlets in Hefei City, Anhui Province, and Sasseur (Kunming) Outlets in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. These have a Net Lettable Area (NLA) of approximately 304,573.1 sqm and an appraised value of $1.5b.

The REIT expects annualised distribution yield of 7.5% in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019.

The public offer opens at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 March 2018 and closes at 12 noon on Monday, 26 March 2018.