KBS Realty Is Said to Consider $1 Billion REIT IPO in Singapore

(Bloomberg) -- KBS Realty Advisors, a U.S.-based commercial property owner, is considering its second real estate investment trust listing in Singapore, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company aims to raise at least $1 billion from a potential sale of trust units backed by at least 15 prime commercial properties, the people said. A possible initial public offering could take place in the fourth quarter, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.

KBS, which partnered Keppel Corp.’s asset management arm on a Singapore listing last year, is in talks with firms based in the city-state to find possible co-sponsors for a second REIT, one of the people said.

Any deal would add to the $3.1 billion of property trust IPOs in Singapore over the last three years, including Keppel-KBS US REIT’s $448 million fundraising, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Aroundtown SA, the Luxembourg-based property investor, is also exploring spinning off some assets through a trust in Singapore, people familiar said in March.

An external spokeswoman for KBS didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment outside of regular U.S. business hours.

KBS is one of the largest buyers of commercial real estate in the U.S. and has completed transactions exceeding $37 billion, according to its website. KBS-affiliated companies had more than $11.4 billion of assets as of March 31.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at jkoh38@bloomberg.net;Elffie Chew in Kuala Lumpur at echew16@bloomberg.net;Andrea Tan in Singapore at atan17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert, Linus Chua

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