Thai tycoon Charoen's hospitality trust IPO could raise up to $448m

Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. -- PHOTO: THE NATION / ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. -- PHOTO: THE NATION / ASIA NEWS NETWORK

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's Singapore real estate company Frasers Centrepoint Ltd (FCL) could raise as much as US$358 (S$448 million) by listing a hospitality industry trust business in Singapore, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The deal size is slightly below an earlier estimate of as much as US$480 million for the initial public offering, made before Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT) began pre-marketing last week. The trust comprises six serviced residences controlled by FCL and six hotels such as Singapore's InterContinental Hotel, owned by Charoen's TCC group.

FCL indicated to investors the newly listed firm will have a market capitalisation of between $1.02 billion to $1.12 billion, one of the people told Reuters. The parent plans to sell 30 per cent to 40 per cent stake of FHT to investors, raising up to $448 million, both people said.

The people did not want to be identified because the details of the deal are not public.

The sale could be formally launched as early as next week, they said. A formal indicative range is yet to be disclosed, but one source said FHT could offer an indicative dividend yield of 6.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

A spokesman for FCL declined to comment.

The listing would mark the first step in merging the property assets of Charoen's business empire, comprising Singapore-listed FCL and his Bangkok-based TCC Group, after the Thai tycoon won control of the drinks-and-property conglomerate Fraser and Neave in an US$11 billion deal last year.

Banks DBS, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank are advisers on the deal, the sources said.

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