Croesus Retail Trust.

"Croesus Retail Trust is planning a Singapore initial public offering of about $800 million (US$634.22 million), backed by mainly Japanese assets, IFR reported on Wednesday."

It is an interesting choice of name. Croesus was the wealthy King of Lydia (part of modern day Turkey) and in Greek culture, the name is synonymous with a wealthy man. Would the REIT live up to its name?

Although I find this REIT interesting, I am not too excited about it at least for now because I remember Starhill Gobal REIT's Japanese retail properties to be a drag on its performance. The lacklustre Japanese economy has caused its retail sector to decline year after year.

Unlike demand for housing which is rather inelastic (which is a reason for liking Saizen REIT), demand for retail spaces is very sensitive to a country's economic performance.

This was what Starhill Global REIT's management said in its 2011 Annual Report:

The Japanese retail environment remains challenging. The Manager is continuously optimising asset performance through active management of the leases.

-->

Let us wait for more details.

Croesus Retail Trust plans $800m Singapore IPO: IFR
Wednesday, 04 July 2012

© 2012 - The Edge Singapore