SAGICOR Real Estate X Fund’s initial public offering (IPO) raised $1.5 billion.

The IPO, which aimed to raise at least $1 billion through a listing of 20 per cent of the X Fund’s shares, received 1,357 applications.

“Investors have responded well to this excellent opportunity to invest in prime real estate and foreign exchange-earning hotel properties without the myriad of responsibilities that come with individual property ownership,” said Richard Byles, president and CEO of Sagicor Life Jamaica.

The funds raised will be used to develop a water park at the company’s Jewel Runaway Bay Beach and Golf Resort property.

This water park will act as a profit centre, which can also be accessed by customers who aren’t guests at the hotel, according to Jermaine Deans, senior manager asset management solutions, treasury and capital markets at Sagicor Investments.

The proceeds of the IPO will also be used to position the company for future investment opportunities,

Sagicor Life Jamaica already has its eye on expanding its Jewel resorts through acquisitions in the Caribbean.

“Those hotel properties are going to give us an income boost in the next three to four years, and out of that we are hoping to pick up some good opportunities in the rest of the Caribbean,” said Byles last month. “Expansion outside of Jamaica is an eventual plan, not an immediate one.”

The resort chain also includes Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort and Spa and Jewel Paradise Cove Beach Resort and Spa.

Sagicor X Fund’s non-hotel properties include nine industrial and warehouse properties, as well as office and retail business properties, which comprises commercial properties such as the R Danny Williams building, the Sagicor Sigma building in New Kingston, and industrial parks on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston and in Freeport, Montego Bay.

The negotiated shares are scheduled to be listed on the main market within 30 days with the listed entity to be valued at over $7 billion.

X Fund will pay dividend to its shareholders based on its net income derived from its investment in the Sigma Real Estate portfolio.

— BO