NTT DC Reit, SGX's largest Reit listing in 10 years, closes flat on debut
Units of the Reit inched up 3 per cent or US$0.03 to US$1.03 at 2pm, before falling back to their offer price of US$1 by the trading day's end.
The mega listing is the largest Reit IPO on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in a decade. NTT DC Reit has an IPO market capitalisation of US$1 billion and is the third pure-play data centre Reit listed in Singapore.
The listing also marks one of Asia's largest data centre Reit IPOs, expanding opportunities for investors to gain exposure to assets driving the boom in artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the listing ceremony, Loh Boon Chye, the chief executive officer of SGX Group, said NTT DC Reit's listing reinforces Singapore's role as Asia's Reit 'launchpad'.
He noted that following the move, other issuers are 'picking up the pace' for their own listings. 'Conversations are building, pipelines are forming, and confidence is gaining ground, driven by listings like this,' he added.
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Doug Adams, CEO of NTT Global Data Centres, said that while NTT DC Reit had considered listing in US and Japan, it eventually decided on Singapore due to its 'vibrant economic economic community' and support for Reit structures.
'We are looking to continue to feed this Reit with strong global assets from the right markets that we believe will give a significant return to our investors… to get a dependable return from their investment.'
NTT Global Data Centres is the data centre business arm of NTT Group, which the Reit sponsor is part of.
NTT DC Reit's portfolio comprises six data centres – four in the US, one in Austria and one in Singapore – with an aggregate appraised value of US$1.6 billion.
About 600 million units are on offer, comprising US$1 per unit for 569.9 million units in its international placement, and 30 million units at S$1.276 per unit for the Singapore public offer.
According to a bourse filing on Friday, the public tranche of its Singapore IPO was around 9.8 times oversubscribed, where there were 14,166 valid applications for an aggregate of 294.8 million units, based on the 30 million units available for subscription.
A group of cornerstone investors will subscribe to over 172 million units in total, representing 16.8 per cent of all units. This runs concurrently, but separately, from the public offering.
One of these anchor investors is GIC, which is subscribing to more than 100 million units making up 9.8 per cent of the total units in issue after the offering. With the Reit's listing, GIC is now a substantial unit holder as well as the second-largest investor in NTT DC Reit after its sponsor.
The other cornerstone investors are AM Squared, Ghisallo Master Fund, Hazelview Securities, Pinpoint Asset Management (Singapore), Viridian Asset Management and UBS acting through its Singapore branch, on behalf of wealth management customers.
In its prospectus, NTT DC Reit noted that the global data centre market has demonstrated high growth, with commissioned power growing from 18.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2020 to 49.1GW in 2024. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 28.1 per cent, and estimates are for it to continue growing at double-digit pace until 2027.
NTT DC Reit joins Digital Core Reit , which listed in December 2021, and Keppel DC Reit , which rejoined the Straits Times Index last month. In total, the pure-play data centre S-Reits listed on SGX provide investors with exposure to around S$9 billion of global data centre assets.
There are now 41 Reits and property trusts listed on the SGX, with a collective market capitalisation of about S$94 billion.
'The listing taps into the immense growth potential of data centres, an asset class gaining strong investor interest globally,' said Pol de Win, head of global sales and origination at SGX Group.
'This move underscores Singapore's position as Asia's leading Reit hub. Not only does this reflect the strength of our market, but also expands investment opportunities in digital infrastructure for investors worldwide.'
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