Opinion | Challenges stacked against NW Hotel
While the offering has been deferred, the trust would be a hard sell even in a strong market
NW Hotel Investments has pushed back its initial public offering. The listing, which was expected to launch today, has been deferred.
Bankers are loath to use the word "postpone" and the official feedback on this deal's status is that its timing has been "revised".
But given the rattled state of markets and that the summer break looms, this deal could quite feasibly slide off the immediate IPO calendar.
However, when one looks at the issues stacked against this deal, the surprise is less that it delayed but that it was even considered in this market.
The trust listing, containing the three five-star hotel assets of the conglomerate New World Development, was seeking to raise up to US$800 million.
The company has been in pre-marketing (the initial sounding bankers do before a formal deal launch) and people involved said the issuer had targeted a trading date of July 9.
First, look at the fact that a similar, US$700 million listing from Hopewell was postponed early this month. At the same time, Langham Hospitality Investments, the hotel spin-off of Great Eagle, is down 21 per cent from its offered price.