Southeast Asia's recent boom in share offerings is growing louder.
In the Philippines LT Group Inc. LTG.PH +11.11%, a conglomerate owned by billionaire Lucio Tan, raised around $920 million in the country's largest-ever share offering, pricing shares at 20.50 pesos ($0.50) each the high end of the indicative range, issuance manager UBS AG said Wednesday.
That followed Monday's report in The Wall Street Journal that the Philippine unit of Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is looking to raise $377 million in a private placement. Road shows for that sale started Monday in Manila and will be held in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and the U.S., the term sheet showed.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, Taiwanese pay-TV operator Asian Pay Television Trust is testing investor appetite for a listing as a business trust that could raise up to US$810 million, people with knowledge of the deal said Wednesday.
And Croesus Retail Trust, a Japanese real estate fund, has revived a plan to raise around US$300 million by listing some of its shopping malls as a business trust in Singapore in the second quarter.
Also aiming for a second-quarter listing in Singapore is U.K.-listed Investec PLC, a fund management and banking group, which plans to raise up to US$500 million through an IPO of its aircraft leasing trust.
So far this year, Southeast Asia has seen a surge in share offerings. Both Thailand and Singapore have raised more money from new listings than Hong Kong, the world's busiest IPO market from 2009 through 2011.
