Daily Archives: 13 Sep 2009

Mapletree plans Singapore Reit

MAPLETREE Investments, the property unit of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, is poised to list a real estate investment trust (Reit) in Singapore that could hold up to S$4 billion in assets, a top executive said.

CEO Hiew Yoon Khong said yesterday the listing of the Reit would take place when stock-market conditions improved.

‘The management team is ready, and the filing process is really a two-month job,’ Mr Hiew told Reuters in an interview. ‘We were actually preparing for the IPO 16 to 18 months ago but the market turned.’

He said Mapletree planned to launch a Vietnam property fund and an Asian industrial property fund in the next 12 months and hopes to raise between US$500 million and US$1 billion for each.

Mr Hiew, who is also senior managing director (special projects) at Temasek, said Mapletree’s strategy going forward is to become ‘a real estate capital management type of business’, managing listed and unlisted funds for outside investors. He said over the next three to five years, Mapletree hoped to grow its property assets to at least S$20 billion.

Mapletree currently owns or manages nearly S$12 billion in real estate assets in several Asian countries, including China, Vietnam and Malaysia. Continue reading

Sheng Siong buys five wet markets for 26mil

The Fajar Market was one of the five wet markets purchased by homegrown supermarket chain Sheng Siong. The chain, which started with one supermarket outlet in Ang Mo Kio in 1985, will soon open its 23rd outlet in Punggol. — PHOTO: WWW.FINANCIALPR.COM.SG

LOCAL supermarket chain Sheng Siong is on an expansion drive with its recent purchase of five wet markets for $25.55 million.

It bought them from mainboard-listed Heeton, a boutique property developer.

The wet markets are at Choa Chu Kang Street 62, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1, Serangoon Avenue 3, Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 and Fajar Road.

The deal looks set to mark another expansion phase for Sheng Siong, a homegrown chain which has been growing in leaps and bounds.

It is not clear what changes, if any, will be made. A Sheng Siong spokesman told The Straits Times: ‘Our company has not made a formal announcement to staff on its plans for the wet markets yet.’ Plans will be announced soon, when the deal is completed, she added.

Sheng Siong has seen phenomenal growth since it started with one outlet in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 in 1985. It now owns and operates 22 supermarket outlets, clocking a turnover of $667 million last year. Continue reading