CVC Capital Partners is seeking pitches from banks to handle a possible Singapore initial public offering of its majority-owned Formula One Group motorsports franchise, which could raise at least US$2 billion ($2.5 billion), people familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
The private equity firm has asked banks to submit their pitches by the end of next week, one of the people said. The other person said the firm will likely select a syndicate of banks to handle the offering by the end of this month.
The IPO will likely take place this year.
CVC has owned 63% of SLEC Holdings, the holding company for Formula One, since 2006.
The people said no details have been finalized about the valuation of the group. A report by Sky News last month said an offering would value Formula One at more than US$10 billion.
If the company raises more than US$2 billion in the IPO, it would be the largest equity fund-raising in Singapore since Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Port Holdings Trust's US$5.5 billion offering early last year.
The planned deal comes as the city-state-traditionally a hub for property and business trusts and commodities-focused listings-seeks to attract higher profile international brands to its bourse, Singapore Exchange.
Swiss-listed pharmaceuticals company Lonza Group AG debuted on the Singapore Exchange by way of introduction in the fourth quarter last year, though no shares were issued or funds raised through the secondary listing.
But since the second half of 2011, market uncertainty arising from concerns over the global economic slowdown and euro-zone debt crisis has resulted in some companies putting their listing plans on hold.
European names such as English Premier League football club Manchester United and health center Fitness First have delayed stock offerings, according to people familiar with these transactions. Manchester United was looking to raise US$1 billion and Fitness First US$500 million.
Singapore's equity market has only recently begun to show signs of a modest recovery with Indonesian palm oil producer Bumitama Agri raising up to $244 million in an IPO this month, the first sizeable offering in the city-state this year.
CVC Capital Partners in Singapore declined to comment when contacted.
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