P.R. Venkat, Sam Holmes & Costas Paris
Dow Jones Newswire
Government of Singapore Investment Corp.’s giant real estate arm GIC Real Estate is looking at an initial public offering of its overseas assets in Singapore, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
“A final decision may be taken next month,” the person said.
He said the sovereign wealth fund’s real estate arm is looking to list its Japanese assets– which includes ProLogis Holdings.
“If the deal happens it would be huge, multi-billion dollars,” the person said, adding that GIC Real Estate is talking to bankers about the IPO.
“They are still watching the market and the exact timing is yet to be decided given the recent volatility in the equities market,” he said.
GIC Real Estate invests globally in real estate and real estate-related assets outside Singapore. It manages a multi-billion dollar portfolio of direct and indirect property investments with close to 300 investments in more than 30 countries.
Its parent, GIC, manages Singapore’s foreign exchange reserves. It is the world’s fourth-largest sovereign fund in terms of money managed, according to a recent report by Deutsche Bank. Its portfolio stands over S$250 billion.
In 2008, GIC Real Estate bought ProLogis property fund interests in Japan and China operations for a total cash consideration of US$1.3 billion with an aim to consolidate its existing portfolio in Japan and get a platform to expand its logistics property business in China.