Singapore’s first listed retail PE bonds redeemed, additional 0.5% bonus paid

CLASS A-1 private equity (PE) bonds issued by Astrea IV were fully redeemed on Wednesday (Jun 14), five years from their issue date in 2018.

Known as the Astrea IV PE bonds, the class A-1 bonds had a fixed interest rate of 4.35 per cent per annum, paid every six months. The issue size was S$242 million.

Bondholders who subscribed to the 2018 tranche also received a bonus 0.5 per cent redemption premium on the principal amount, as the performance threshold was met before the time of redemption.

“The performance of the bonds bears testament to the strong fundamentals of the Astrea transactions and quality of the Astrea portfolios,” said Margaret Lui, chief executive officer of Azalea Asset Management.

Within the same series, class A-2 bonds were also fully redeemed, while class B bonds were partially redeemed.

Another round of the Astrea PE bonds – Astrea 7 – was issued in 2022, with additional US dollar-denominated class B bonds made available to retail investors in Singapore.

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Astrea IV class A-1 bonds were the first retail PE bonds listed on the Singapore Exchange.

Lui thanked investors for their support, adding that she looked forward to continuing to deepen the retail investment market in Singapore, and offer more opportunities for retail investors to access PE.