Lotte Shopping Said to Plan $1 Billion Singapore IPO of Malls

Lotte Shopping Co. (023530), South Korea’s largest department store operator, is planning an initial public offering in Singapore of some of its shopping malls, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
The sale may raise at least $1 billion and could take place as early as this year, said the people, asking not to be identified as the process is private. The company is still deciding which properties it will include in the sale, which will either be in the form of a business trust or a real-estate investment trust, the people said.

At $1 billion, the IPO would be the third-largest in Singapore this year after sales by Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (MAGIC) and Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT), data compiled by Bloomberg show. REITs and business trusts were the biggest fundraisers in Singapore’s IPO market in the past year, raising $4.6 billion out of a total $5.3 billion, the data show.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Nomura Holdings Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc are managing the sale, the people said.
A call to Lotte Shopping today was unanswered. The company said on June 24 that it’s considering the sale and lease back of real estate assets, without offering any details on timing or value. IFR reported the Singapore IPO plan last month.

Source: Bloomberg