A handful of structured property-backed deals are on the way from Singapore, which has been sowing the seeds for commercial mortgage-backed securitization for well over a year.
DBS Bank, which just completed a S$200 million (US$119 million), lease-backed securitization of Century Square Shopping Centre last month (ASRI, 10/4/99, p. 10), is reportedly working on another retail shopping mall-backed transaction for First Capital Corp., the developer which originated the Century Square deal.
Tentative size is S$200 million and the structure will mirror those of five earlier sale and leaseback deals dubbed securitizations in Singapore completed by DBS Bank since last year. Those deals all had a call option allowing the originator to buy back the property at a pre-guaranteed price. Pricing is set for early November, well before investors close their books for the year. A DBS banker confirmed that the bank was working on several more commercial property-backed deals for First Capital.
