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Mr Tony Lombardo, CEO of Lendlease Asia, and Chairman of Lendlease Global Commercial Trust Management;
Mr Kelvin Chow, CEO, Lendlease Global Commercial Trust Management;
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
A very good afternoon and warm welcome to all.
Introduction
1. On behalf of SGX, we are delighted to congratulate Lendlease Global Commercial REIT on your first day of trading on our Mainboard.
About Lendlease Global Commercial REIT
2. It may be Lendlease Group’s first Singapore-listed REIT but as a leading international property and infrastructure group, you are no stranger to the Singapore retail scene. I am sure many of us would have frequented its retail properties such as 313@somerset, Parkway Parade, Jem and the new Paya Lebar Quarter.
3. More broadly, Lendlease Group has a strong global presence and a portfolio of 21 urbanisation projects across 10 gateway cities.
4. The REIT’s initial portfolio consists of 313@somerset, as well as a freehold Grade A office property in Milan called Sky Complex.
About the SGX REIT Sector
5. By listing on SGX’s Mainboard, Lendlease Global Commercial REIT is in good company. As the fourth REIT listing on SGX this year, it joins our growing family of REITs with overseas assets. In fact, this REIT, together with the other 3 REIT listings on SGX this year, are the top four IPOs in ASEAN year-to-date, by funds raised.
6. Singapore-listed REITs continue to draw strong institutional and retail interest, consistently outperforming our STI. For the first eight months of 2019, S-REITS was the top institutional net buy sector, drawing inflows of S$211 million.
7. Thanks to the support of companies like yourselves and the active participation of the ecosystem, SGX is today Asia’s global REIT hub and the largest REIT and property trust market in Asia ex-Japan. Over 80% of Singapore REITs and Property Trusts own offshore assets across Asia Pacific, US and Europe. Investors are able to access a wide spectrum of property sub-segments spanning a diversity of sectors.
8. The strong demand for REIT products is also reflected in how the market capitalisation of S-REITs has grown over the past 10 years at a compounded annual growth rate of 22%, to about S$110 billion today.
9. Today’s listing is just the start of your journey with SGX. We will continue to support you by raising your profile among the investing community, as well as increasing investor education.
10. We hope you will also tap on SGX’s research platforms and corporate access events to engage more investors, and make the best of the capital markets to support your growth.
Closing
11. In closing, let me once again congratulate Lendlease Global Commercial REIT on your successful listing. The striking of the gong will mark the beginning of a new milestone for you and we look forward to partnering with you on this growth journey. Thank you.
