Mapletree completes Singapore’s largest REIT IPO

Temasek-backed Mapletree Investments has raised S$1.19 billion (€657 million; $921 million) from the initial public offering of an industrial portfolio in and around the state-country. The public offering of the Mapletree Industrial Trust was the largest REIT listing in Singapore to date.

It was also the second largest public listing of industrial assets in Asia this year following that of Global Logistics Properties, the industrial real estate business backed by another Singapore state-owned investor, GIC. The IPO of Global Logistics Properties, earlier this month, raised S$3.5 billion.

Mapletree raised the S$1.19 billion from the sale of more than 594 million shares to the public as well as Mapletee Cornerstone Subscription units. The shares traded at S$1.15 each, a 23.7 percent increase over its offering price. Investors included APG Tactical Real Estate Pool, Henderson Global Investors and Prudential Asset Management.

The portfolio of assets included 70 properties in and around Singapore valued at approximately S$2.1 billion as of 31 August. The assets comprise a total floor area of approximately 1.5 million square metres and the properties house more than 1,500 tenants.

The public listing netted Arcapita Bank and its affiliates proceeds of $435 million. The Bahrain bank entered into a joint venture with Mapletree to purchase the assets in 2008.

Arcapita’s chief executive officer, Atif Abdulmalik said in an announcement on the listing: “Although we entered into the joint venture shortly before the onset of the global economic crisis, we have worked alongside Mapletree to manage the assets, allowing us to complete the investment successfully a little more than two years later, generating positive returns for our investors.”

Mapletree had S$12.9 billion of commercial real estate under management as of March 31, 2010, S$6.1 billion of which was on behalf of third party investors via private equity real estate funds and REITs.