CapitaMalls offer draws strong interest

CAPITAMALLS Malaysia Trust (CMMT) received strong interest for its initial public offering (IPO) of 786.522 million units and has its institutional investors' price fixed at RM1 a unit and that for retail investors at 98 sen a unit.

CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd, which manages the real estate investment trust (REIT), said at RM1 unit price, institutional investors are expected to get 7.2 per cent distribution yield for 2010 and 7.5 per cent for 2011.

The institutional book for the CMMT was opened for subscription on June 25 before closing on Wednesday, while the retail offering was opened for application from June 28 to July 5, it said in a statement.

CMMT will be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 16.

Chief executive officer Lim Beng Chee said the CMMT was priced at one of the tightest yields for a Malaysian REIT IPO despite the challenging market conditions.

The pricing is above Capita-Malls Asia's book value while at a discount to CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust's valuation. This creates value for CapitaMalls Asia shareholders and provides a reasonable IPO discount for new unitholders, hence creating a win-win outcome for all," he said.

Upon listing, the CMMT will be the largest 'pure-play' shopping mall REIT in Malaysia, with a market capitalisation in excess of RM1.3 billion and free float of 58 per cent, it said.

Meanwhile, the statement said CMMT has a total of 1.350 billion units in issue and under its IPO, a total of 786.522 million units were offered to institutional investors in Malaysia and overseas, and to retail investors in Malaysia only.

The retail offering in Malaysia was 67.50 million units.

The statement said the Employees Provident Fund and Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Bhd have signed up as cornerstone investors for the share offer to subscribe for 90 million units in aggregate.

By Bernama