Industrial real estate developer Soon Hock Enterprise launches IPO at 58 cents apiece

SINGAPORE - Real estate developer Soon Hock Enterprise has launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange mainboard, it announced on Oct 8.

It is offering around 21.6 million shares at 58 cents each, in conjunction with its listing. The IPO will close at noon on Oct 14 and the shares are expected to begin listing and trading at 9am on Oct 16.

Soon Hock does industrial property development and industrial property investment in Singapore.

It has been involved in the launch of over 1,200 units of strata-titled industrial properties and has marketed, sold and delivered about 900 strata-titled units across industrial and commercial zones in Singapore.

It noted in a statement: “The group has strong visibility on future cash flows through substantially funded future development projects that are financed through a combination of internal and external funds, as well as early-stage sales.”

Upcoming projects that can contribute to revenue in the next few years include Stellar@Tampines, which has pre-sold 168 units, and Skye@Tuas, which has received interest for one floor ahead of pre-sales expected to be launched in 2026.

The group also collects recurring income from two industrial properties in Kaki Bukit and Jurong West.

Soon Hock Enterprise executive director and chief executive Walter Tan said: “Having delivered industrial projects with a combined gross development value of over $1 billion, our group is well-positioned to capitalise on Singapore’s strength as a leading economic hub in the region, which has resulted in structural growth and rising demand for modern, high-specification industrial properties.”

He added that he believes the demand for factories, warehouses and worker dormitories will remain positive because of major infrastructure projects such as the Tuas Mega Port.

Demand is also supported by Singapore’s strategic location as a logistics hub, he said.

Mr Tan said at a media briefing that the company is also looking to diversify into areas that will generate stable and recurring income, such as leasing foreign worker dormitories to third-party companies.

Its current headquarters at Jalan Papan comprises a purpose-built factory block and an accompanying workers’ dormitory, which can accommodate up to 300 residents and is leased to a construction firm.

It is looking to redevelop its property at 20 Shaw Road and convert part of it into a dormitory, subject to approvals.

Net proceeds from the IPO, which are expected to be around $34.6 million, will be partly used to fund the redevelopment of 20 Shaw Road, as well as for buying new land sites and buildings for development and redevelopment.

Maybank Securities and UOB are the joint issue managers, global coordinators and book runners for the IPO.

The offering comprises around 18.8 million offering shares by way of international placement to investors, which includes institutional and other investors in Singapore, and foreign institutional and selected investors outside the US.

It also comprises 2.8 million offering shares by way of a public offer in Singapore.

Apart from the offering, cornerstone investors in the company such as Amova Asset Management Asia, Maybank Securities and UOB, as well as five private investors, have entered into separate subscription agreements with the company. This involves 61.4 million new shares with an aggregate value of up to $35.6 million at the offering price. Hence, the offering, together with the cornerstone shares, has a total deal size of about $48.1 million.

After the offering, the company’s market capitalisation at listing will be about $180.1 million.

Post-listing, Soon Hock plans to distribute dividends of at least 25 per cent of its net profit from the listing date to Dec 31, and for its 2026 financial year.

Mr Tan said that listing is part of the long-term view for the company and that the firm engaged auditors in 2024. “We’ll never know when’s the best time to list because we never know the market outlook of the global economy and the Singapore economy,” he said.

“For us, it’s more of a long-term view. We wanted to professionalise and institutionalise the company.”

He added that the group’s executive chairman and founder Tan Yeow Khoon had listed a company before, when logistics business Cogent Holdings was listed on the SGX mainboard in 2010.

Mr Tan Yeow Khoon had founded Cogent, which was delisted in 2018.

Mr Walter Tan said: “So, he’s very aware of the process. When we are listed, we also gain a lot of publicity, and it helps with hiring of talent, better financing and getting financing from the public market, so there are a lot of options that we can explore when we are listed.”

He also said it was “very lucky” that the listing took place at a time of improved funding and support for the Singapore market.

To boost liquidity and investor interest in the Singapore market, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a

$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme

through which it will partner with selected fund managers to invest in Singapore stocks.

MAS also set aside $50 million over the next three years to strengthen equity research and listing support.

Soon Hock said it intends to actively pursue tenders for newly released plots under the Industrial Government Land Sales Programme.

It may also expand into residential property development if it sees the opportunity to do so.

“The group intends to diversify with income-generating assets and is open to acquiring additional industrial properties for long-term lease, thereby broadening its revenue streams and generating recurring income,” it said.

It also wants to actively look for under-utilised or ageing assets that have potential to be redeveloped and retrofitted.

Soon Hock is among

four companies

that have filed preliminary documents for an IPO in the past two weeks.

The SGX has seen seven mainboard listings so far in 2025, with more in the pipeline.

In August, SGX said it had more than 30 companies in its pipeline of IPOs that had already hired advisers and started preparatory listing work.