Centurion Accommodation Reit opens 11.4% above IPO price on SGX debut

Units of Centurion Accommodation Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) rose 11.4 per cent on Thursday (Sep 25) as it made its debut on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The counter opened at S$0.98 at 2 pm, S$0.10 higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price of S$0.88 per unit.

This is the second-biggest mainboard listing on the SGX this year, following NTT DC Reit’s listing in July.

Tony Bin, chief executive of the manager said: “The listing of Centurion Accommodation Reit, the first pure-play purpose-built living accommodation Reit on SGX, is aligned with our long-term growth strategy and growing investor interest.”

Thursday’s listing joins 40 other Reits and property trusts already listed on the SGX, which collectively represent a market capitalisation of about S$100 billion.

Centurion Accommodation Reit’s offer of 262.1 million units was oversubscribed by 16.6 times. The offer comprised an international placement tranche of 249 million units for investors outside of the US, which was oversubscribed by around 16 times, while its Singapore public offering of 13.2 million units was oversubscribed by 30.9 times.

The IPO aimed to raise about S$771.1 million from the public tranche and the 614 million units issued to 16 cornerstone investors. Sponsor Centurion Holdings will hold 787.4 million units.

The Singapore tranche had a balloting ratio of 35:50 across all unit ranges. Those who applied for the range of 10,000 to 19,000 units were granted the largest proportion at 23.3 per cent, while 2,195 applicants were given 1,400 units each.

Its initial portfolio will include 14 assets, with five purpose-built workers’ accommodation in Singapore, eight purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in the UK, and one PBSA in Australia worth S$1.8 billion in total. This will rise to S$2.1 billion after the Reit acquires a second Australia student housing asset that is currently under development.