SINGAPORE: Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Trust launched its initial public offer for a listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and planned to raise as much as US$5.8 billion.

This will be Singapore's largest IPO, topping SingTel's S$4 billion listing in 1993.

HPH offered nearly 3.9 billion units for the IPO and some 185 million units will be issued to the public.

The offer price ranges from US$0.91 and US$1.08 per Unit.

However, investors subscribing for units under the public offer will pay S$1.383 per unit.

HPH said eight cornerstone investors including Temasek Holdings unit Aranda Investments have agreed to invest US$1.6 billion.

Based on the price range, the implied Distribution per Unit (DPU) yield for the forecast period is between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent, and the implied DPU yield for 2012 is between 6.1 per cent and 7.2 per cent, the Trust said in a statement.

The Trust which is the first publicly traded container port business trust, registered its prospectus with MAS on Monday.

The public offer opens at 12 noon on March 7, 2011 and closes on March 14, 2011.

The units are expected to start trading on SGX at 2pm on March 18, 2011.

DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Singapore are the joint bookrunners and joint issue managers for the IPO.

- CNA/fa