Lippo To Raise Up To $587m With Retail Reit

Source : The Business Times, Saturday, October 20, 2007

INDONESIA’S Lippo Group will be raising up to $587.4 million with the planned Singapore listing of a real estate investment trust (Reit) based on its retail properties in Indonesia.

The Lippo-Mapletree Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIR) will offer 645.5 million units at 78 to 91 cents a unit, according to the trust’s preliminary prospectus which was lodged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore yesterday.

Separate from the offering, Lippo will subscribe for 287.7 million units in the trust while Singapore’s Mapletree Investments will subscribe for 127.3 million units. This means that Lippo and Mapletree will hold stakes of at least 27.1 per cent and 12 per cent in the trust once it is listed.

Of the 645.5 million units that will be part of the share offering, 625.5 million units will be placed out to institutional and other investors, while 20 million units will be offered to the public.

The trust will be the first Reit in Singapore to provide exposure to Indonesia’s growing retail sector.

Two other SGX-listed Reits have significant exposure to overseas retail markets - CapitaRetail China Trust, which owns retail properties in China, and Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust, which holds retail properties in Hong Kong.

LMIR’s initial property portfolio will comprise seven retail mall properties and seven retail spaces located within other retail malls, all of which are located in Indonesia.