Singapore’s Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) is considering raising up to $500 million through a placement and preferential offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

KIT is working with financial advisers on a fundraising that could take place as soon as this week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private. Deliberations are ongoing and details may change, the people said. 

A spokesperson for KIT said unit holders have approved a potential equity funding round for a proposed acquisition of Australian bus company Ventura Motors.  

“We are monitoring the market and will launch if the conditions are conducive,” the spokesperson wrote in an e-mail, without disclosing financial details. 

KIT announced in February it was buying 98.6 per cent of Melbourne-based Ventura for an enterprise value of A$600 million (S$535.75 million) in a transaction expected to be completed in the second quarter. At the time, it said it intended to fund the investment with “an optimal combination of internal sources of funds, equity and/or debt capital market issuances and/or external borrowings.”

KIT says it had about $8.1 billion assets under management at the start of 2024, which will rise to some $8.7 billion after the Ventura deal. Run by Keppel Infrastructure Fund Management and sponsored by Keppel, the trust has a market value of about $2.6 billion, down 8 per cent from $2.8 billion on Jan 2. BLOOMBERG