HONG KONG, June 27 — NetLink NBN Trust, the broadband subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), launched an up to US$1.95 billion (RM8.3 billion) IPO today in the largest new listing in Singapore in more than four years.

NetLink is offering 2.9 billion units in an indicative price range of S$0.80 to S$0.93 each, putting the total issue at as much as S$2.69 billion, according to a preliminary prospectus filed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The IPO is slated to be priced on July 7, with its debut on the Singapore stock exchange set for July 19, according to a term sheet of the transaction seen by Thomson Reuters publication IFR.

The deal will be the biggest in Singapore since Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust's US$2.06 billion IPO in February 2013.

NetLink will use a portion of the IPO proceeds to buy Singtel's broadband assets, with up to S$1.4 billion paid in cash and it will use 966 million units for the remainder of the amount due. NetLink will use another 40 per cent of proceeds to repay a S$1.1 billion loan owed to Singtel.

Singtel's Group CEO Chua Sock Koong previously said the company wanted to reduce its stake in NetLink to less than 25 per cent. It will own 24.99 per cent of NetLink after the IPO.

DBS Group, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG were hired as joint global coordinators for the IPO, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, HSBC, OCBC Bank and UOB also acting as joint bookrunners. — Reuters