Thai tycoon Charoen's Frasers Centrepoint eyes $600m hospitality Reit: Sources

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Frasers Centrepoint Ltd (FCL) , a company controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is looking to raise up to S$600 million through the listing of a hospitality trust in Singapore in the second quarter, sources said.

FCL has picked DBS, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and United Overseas Bank as the main advisers on the deal, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

"The deal could come as early as April, but all depends on the markets," a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, adding the deal size could be between S$500 million and S$600 million.

FCL, which split from Fraser and Neave into a separately listed company, has a market capitalisation of US$3.2 billion (S$4 billion).

FCL's real estate investment trust would hold service residences owned by F&N and other assets such as the InterContinental Hotel in Singapore, which is owned by Mr Charoen's TCC Group.

The listing would also mark the first step towards the merging of F&N-related assets and Mr Charoen's business empire after the Thai tycoon won control of the Singapore drinks-and-property conglomerate in an US$11 billion deal last year.

A spokesman for FCL said the group has previously announced that it is exploring the possibility of a hospitality Reit, but declined to confirm the name of the advisers and the size of the deal. The banks were not immediately available to comment.

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