Keppel Confirms Plans to List U.S. Office-Property Assets in Singapore

Keppel Corp. Ltd. (BN4.SG) Thursday said it is planning an initial public offering of a real-estate investment trust comprising U.S. commercial properties, in partnership with KBS Realty Advisors LLC, an American real-estate investment firm.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Keppel was planning to raise about US$500 million via the Singapore IPO of the joint venture that will have an initial portfolio of about a dozen properties, including office buildings in Seattle, Houston, Denver and other U.S. cities.

Keppel said in a statement to Singapore Exchange that an initial portfolio of 11 U.S. office properties will be injected into the REIT. A listing application has been filed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and other details are still being worked out, it said.

Singapore is a sought-after destination for REITs in Asia. The country is home to more than 40 REITs with a combined market capitalization of nearly $60 billion. Large and small investors are drawn to their yields, which average 6% to 7%.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at gaurav.raghuvanshi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2017 06:22 ET (10:22 GMT)