All valid applicants for Astrea IV Class A-1 bond receive allocation

ASTREA IV's Class A-1 bonds have been allocated on Wednesday, with all 25,660 valid applicants in its S$121 million retail offering - which was 7.4 times subscribed - receiving some allocation.

Astrea IV said this reflected its desire to distribute the private equity bonds to a wider retail investor base. The offering marked the first time a private equity bond was made available to retail investors.

Nearly S$890 million in valid applications were received at the close of the offer at noon on Tuesday. Astrea said 65 per cent of the bonds are allocated to applicants who subscribed for S$30,000 or less, with all those applying for S$4,000 or less receiving full allocations.  Subscribers who did not receive the full allocation will have their balances refunded through their bank accounts by 6pm on Thursday.

The bonds will be issued on Thursday, and retail investors can check their allocations by logging into their central depository accounts from Friday.

The retail offering followed the successful placement of three classes of bonds to institutional and other investors in Singapore and elsewhere. Apart from S$121 million in Class A-1 bonds, they comprise US$210 million in Class A-2 bonds and US$110 million in Class B bonds, which will also be issued on Thursday.

The total valid subscriptions received for all three classes amounted to US$2.5 billion, representing a subscription rate of five times. Astrea IV said the bond distribution was "diversified across a good mix of high quality institutions (60 per cent), accredited investors (22 per cent) and the retail investors who took up the public offer (18 per cent)".

Astrea IV bonds are expected to commence trading at 9am on June 18.

Astrea IV is a subsidiary of Azalea Asset Management, which is in turn a Temasek Holdings subsidiary. Said Azalea, chief executive officer Margaret Lui: "The launch of Astrea IV Class A-1 Bonds to the public is the first step taken to offer retail investors a rare opportunity to diversify their investments with bonds backed by cash flows from private equity fund investments."

"Azalea will continue to develop and bring future Astrea PE bonds to the market, particularly for retail investors," she added. "We will do so at a steady and regular pace, subject to various factors including prevailing market conditions."