GLP Pte has filed confidentially for a US initial public offering of its investment business that’s seeking to raise about US$2 billion ($2.71 billion), according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Singapore-based company is planning to list its fund management operations as soon as the first half of this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Volatility in markets roiled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine could cause delays to the plan, one of the people said.
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Deliberations are ongoing and details such as the IPO size could change, the people said. A representative for GLP declined to comment.
Founded in 2009 as a logistics real estate investor, developer and operator, GLP has expanded into areas such as investment management, data centres and renewable energy, according to its website. The company has about $120 billion of assets under management.
The planned IPO comes at a challenging time for equity capital markets. First-time share sales already had a slow start to the year on the back of record listings in 2021. Now many investors are switching to risk-off mode as accelerating inflation, rising interest rates and Russia’s war in Ukraine fuel volatility. Funding deals across bonds, loans and IPOs have been piling up, highlighting the difficulties in completing an offering.
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If GLP manages to pull off the investment arm’s listing, it would join other asset managers such as US buyout firm TPG Inc. and Stockholm-based EQT Partners. The former raised US$1 billion earlier this year, while EQT -- the largest private equity firm in the Nordic region -- completed a US$600 million listing in 2019. Other PEs that are weighing IPOs include Asia-focused PAG and CVC Capital Partners, Bloomberg News has reported.
GLP was taken private in 2018 after trading on Singapore’s stock exchange for about seven years. It’s now owned by a consortium that includes co-founder Ming Mei, private equity firms Hillhouse Capital Management and Hopu Investment Management.
GLP is also considering listing some of its Chinese logistics assets in a real estate investment trust IPO in Singapore, IFR reported last year.
Photo: Bloomberg
