Paragon Reit: From IPO to privatisation
A timeline of SPH Reit from its formation in 2013
ON TUESDAY (Feb 11), Cuscaden Peak’s Times Properties made an offer to privatise Paragon Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) for S$0.98 a unit, noting that the trust has one of the lowest free floats among its retail Singapore Reit (S-Reit) peers, and has historically experienced low trading liquidity.
Total assets have grown 1.3 times since the Reit’s creation as SPH Reit at its 2013 initial public offering (IPO), compared to the average of 2.9 times for other retail S-Reits, Cuscaden added. Its offer values the Reit at S$2.78 billion. The offer price represents a 10.1 per cent premium to the counter’s last transacted price of S$0.89 a week ago. Paragon Reit gained as much as 12 per cent or S$0.105 to S$0.995 on Tuesday, before easing to close at S$0.99. The last time it traded at such levels was in January 2023.
2013: SPH Reit lists on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), raising S$504 million in its IPO priced at S$0.90 a share. The IPO is 37 times subscribed. The Reit’s initial assets are Paragon and The Clementi Mall, injected by SPH. The sale of the assets raises net proceeds of about S$1 billion for SPH, and a special dividend of S$0.18 per share is dished out to SPH shareholders.
2018: SPH Reit acquires The Rail Mall for S$63.24 million from Pulau Properties, a company owned by Lee Foundation and the Lee family. SPH Reit also buys an 85 per cent stake in Figtree Grove Shopping Centre, a shopping centre south of Sydney for A$175.1 million (S$175.1 million).
2019: SPH Reit buys a 50 per cent stake in Westfield Marion Shopping Centre near Adelaide in South Australia for A$670 million.
2021: In March, SPH announces a strategic review for its various businesses; and in May, says it will spin off its media business. An offer from Keppel Corp for SPH’s non-media businesses lands in August, valuing the group at S$3.4 billion. Two months later in October, Cuscaden Peak, backed by Ong Beng Seng’s Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL) and Mapletree and CapitaLand units, launch a surprise rival bid. SPH holds 65.4 per cent of SPH Reit. Keppel ups its offer in November, and Cuscaden raises its offer in turn. In February 2022, SPH exercises its termination right for Keppel’s offer.
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April 2022: As a result of the SPH acquisition, Cuscaden makes a mandatory chain offer for SPH Reit at S$0.9372 per unit in April 2022, 3.9 per cent below its last traded price of S$0.975. At the time, Cuscaden says it does not intend to “actively pursue the delisting of SPH Reit”. Nevertheless, if the free float requirement that 10 per cent of units is held by the public is not satisfied, Cuscaden says it will proceed to compulsorily acquire all outstanding units and delist SPH Reit.
May 2022: SPH delists from the stock exchange.
January 2023: SPH Reit is renamed Paragon Reit.
February 2024: Paragon Reit declines an offer from Cuscaden Peak Investments to acquire The Seletar Mall for S$550 million, with Paragon Reit’s manager saying that it would be dilutive to the Reit’s distribution per unit. In January, Allgreen Properties, part of the Kuok Group, was in exclusive due diligence to buy The Seletar Mall.
March 2024: Cuscaden Peak sells The Seletar Mall to Allgreen Properties for S$550 million, or about S$2,900 per square foot net lettable area.
August 2024: Paragon Reit divests The Rail Mall for S$78.5 million, 27 per cent above its end-2023 valuation. The buyer is understood to be a private investor. Proceeds from the divestment are to pare outstanding debt obligations and finance potential acquisitions, and/or make distributions to unitholders. Following the divestment, unitholders receive S$0.0185 per unit from a special distribution.
November 2024: Paragon Reit divests Australian shopping mall Figtree Grove for A$192 million. The buyer is understood to be an unrelated party. The divestment reflects a 5 per cent premium over the independent valuation of the property in October 2024.
January 2025: Hotel Properties Limited, a real estate player owned by property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, exits Cuscaden Peak consortium. It said in a bourse filing that it will focus its resources on the development of its other assets and project.
February 2025: Cuscaden Peak’s Times Properties makes an offer to privatise Paragon Reit for S$0.98 per unit.
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