CapitaMalls Asia IPO priced at $2.12 per share

Business Times - 18 Nov 2009


CapitaMalls Asia IPO priced at $2.12 per share

Conservative pricing aimed at ensuring it trades well after market debut

By UMA SHANKARI

CAPITALAND will raise up to $2.8 billion from selling 34.5 per cent of its retail arm CapitaMalls Asia (CMA), which has a portfolio of 86 malls in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India.

The property group said that it will sell up to about 1.34 billion shares - including 174.78 million over-allotment shares - in CMA at $2.12 apiece in an initial public offering (IPO). This is below the mid-point of an indicative range of $1.98 and $2.39 stated in an e-mail sent to potential investors earlier this month.

The conservative pricing is aimed at ensuring that the IPO trades well after it debuts on the stock market on Nov 25, analysts said.

'We have to leave some value for shareholders who subscribe to CMA,' said CapitaLand chief executive Liew Mun Leong.

The IPO will be Singapore's second biggest since Singapore Telecommunications raised more than $4 billion in 1993.

The $2.12 offer price values CMA, which has a net asset value of $5.3 billion, at about $8.2 billion - or at a price-to-book value of 1.55 times. The offer comprises a placement tranche of 1.059 billion shares, a public offer of 106.7 million shares and an over-allotment option of up to 174.78 million shares.

CapitaLand, on its part, could record a one-time gain of $883 million from the IPO. Part of the proceeds will be paid out as a special dividend to the group's shareholders.

The company will also use some of its proceeds to invest in its residential and service residence business unit. Mr Liew said that he is looking at Singapore, China, Australia and Vietnam for growth for the overall group.

Mr Liew, who will also be the chairman of CMA, said that the company has received strong demand from institutional investors, particularly from the United States and Europe, for the IPO.

'Investors understand that investing in CapitaMalls Asia allows them to participate in the significant growth of the shopping mall sector and the strong Asia consumer trends,' he said.

Analysts agreed. Brandon Lee, an analyst at DMG & Partners Securities, said that CMA should do well because it is a China consumer story, which is attractive to investors. More than half of all malls are in China, which is expected to provide the engine of growth for CMA.

CMA, in particular, is expected to benefit from the low interest rate environment as it gears up to expand and/or make acquisitions after listing. Assuming a net debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3-0.5 times, the new company has the potential to take on debt of about $1.6 billion to $2.6 billion after it is listed, its chief executive Lim Beng Chee said.

CapitaLand also said yesterday that it has injected the remaining $800 million of the net proceeds from its $1.84 billion rights issue into CMA. Following this injection, all the net proceeds of the rights issue from early this year have been fully disbursed, the company said.

CapitaLand lost 10 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to close at $4.13 yesterday.

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