Hot stock: Manulife US Reit makes debut on SGX mainboard

MANULIFE US real estate investment trust (Manulife US Reit) made its debut on Singapore Exchange's (SGX) mainboard on Friday, trading between US$0.77 and US$0.825 a unit.

It eventually closed at US$0.79 with more than 42 million units changing hands.

The Canadian insurer had priced its initial public offering (IPO) at the top end of its indicative range at US$0.83 per unit.

It had offered an international placement of 350.78 million units to investors outside the United States and a tranche of 45.79 million units to the Singapore public. Separately, some 169.54 million units were issued to cornerstone investors, and the sponsor Manulife group agreed to subscribe for 59.4 million units in the Reit.

The Reit is the first IPO on SGX's mainboard this year and the first pure-play US office Reit to be listed in Asia.