Post Reply
1-5 of 5
January 9, 2007, 3.52 pm (Singapore time)
Temasek to raise US$200m from new trust: source
SINGAPORE - Temasek Holdings said on Tuesday that it would sell units in a Singapore-listed infrastructure business trust backed by gas and water assets including a desalination plant.
A source familiar with the deal said the new trust would raise up to US$200 million.
Temasek said it would sell 321.75 million units in CitySpring Infrastructure Trust through a placement and public offering. The prospectus did not give the price or size of the deal.
The trust would own 100 per cent of the City Gas Trust, the sole producer and retailer of town gas in Singapore, and 70 per cent of SingSpring Trust, the sole supplier of desalinated water to Singapore's national water agency, according to a prospectus filed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
While Singapore has attracted several property investment trusts, this would be the first listed infrastructure trust in Singapore and it would seek investment opportunities in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, Temasek said.
'There is strong growth potential in the infrastructure industry in Asia,' said Fai Au Yeung, chief executive of CitySpring Infrastructure Management Pte Ltd, the manager for the trust.
The Asian Development Bank estimates the region will require US$250 billion a year until 2010 to fund new infrastructure investment and maintain existing plants, he said.
Morgan Stanley and DBS Bank are advising CitySpring.
Separately, water treatment firm Hyflux Ltd said on Tuesday that it plans to sell part of its interest in its desalination plant SingSpring to CitySpring business trust.
The prospectus said Temasek would retain a 28.5 per cent stake in the trust after the initial public offering, making it the single largest unit holder in the CitySpring. -- REUTERS