Singapore Exchange (SGX) today welcomed the listing of the Astrea IV private equity (PE) Class A-1 bonds issued by Azalea Group, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. The issuance marks the first such structure in Singapore for retail investors to subscribe to PE bonds.
There are three tranches of the Astrea IV PE bonds – Class A-1, Class A-2 and Class B. The Class A-1 bonds, which have a total size of SGD242 million and an annual interest rate of 4.35 per cent, are listed on the SGX-ST Mainboard. The public offer tranche of the Class A-1 bonds was SGD121 million. Another SGD121 million of A-1 bonds, USGD210 million of A-2 bonds and USGD110 million of Class B bonds were offered to institutions and other investors via placement.
Astrea IV PE bonds are backed by cash flows from a portfolio of investments in 36 underlying PE funds. These funds have a net asset value of USGD1.1 billion, and are invested in 596 investee companies globally across multiple sectors.
Margaret Lui, Chief Executive Officer of Azalea, says: “Until now, private equity has generally been accessible only by sophisticated and accredited investors. Astrea IV – as the first listed retail private equity bonds in Singapore – uniquely transforms PE into bonds, offering a product that allows retail investors to tap into private equity fund investments to enjoy a regular fixed income, while also diversifying their investment portfolio.”
Chew Sutat, Head of Equities and Fixed Income, SGX, says: “We are delighted to welcome the listing of the Astrea IV PE Bonds, which offers a new asset class to retail investors. As our fixed income market grows to meet the investment needs of investors and funding requirements of issuers, we hope that this opens the market for more high quality issuers and issuers from the broader asset backed securities sector.”
