Lim, executive chairman of LHN, is spinning off Coliwoo for a separate listing, as the co-living brand’s growth is becoming challenging to manage under the LHN. “There is no right and wrong time to IPO a company … we are spinning off Coliwoo [to be listed] now because we feel that strategically, we have to do that, because otherwise all the group resources will go to only Coliwoo, and then the rest of the business will not be able to grow,” says Lim in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
Not only will this listing give Coliwoo a separate platform and space to grow, it will also unlock value for LHN’s shareholders, Lim shares.
His plan is to separate the capital-hungry co-living arm, allowing both Coliwoo and the remaining LHN businesses to access funding independently, grow at their respective speeds, and be valued based on clearer narratives. “We will be able to raise funds [for Coliwoo] individually, and then the other businesses will be able to benefit. The other businesses [will] no longer have to support Coliwoo with their profits and then they can use their profits to plough back [into their businesses] for further growth,” he says.
The demarcation is corporate, not cultural. Post-listing, Lim will relinquish his role as managing director at LHN, but will remain the executive chairman of LHN, while also assuming the positions of executive chairman and CEO of Coliwoo — a dual role he says reflects the current balance of capital and operating intensity.
See also: Coliwoo Holdings IPO 8.2 times subscribed; raises $101 mil
IPO details
Coliwoo has published its final prospectus on Oct 28 and the public offer closed on Nov 4.
Coliwoo is coming to market at 60 cents per share in an IPO of 80.304 million shares, alongside 87.996 million cornerstone shares, with gross and net proceeds of $101 million and $96.21 million raised in total.
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At the close of the IPO, the public offer shares of 5.3 million shares was about 20.7 times subscribed, while the placement shares of about 75 million shares is approximately 7.3 times subscribed. In total, the around 80.3 million offer shares were 8.2 times subscribed.
At this price, the implied post-offer market capitalisation is $288.5 million, and the FY2024 P/E sits at roughly 6.05 times.
Coliwoo’s cornerstone investors include Albizia Capital, Avanda Investment Management (on behalf of certain investment funds and/or managed accounts), B&I Capital, ICHAM Master Fund VCC, Maybank Asset Management Singapore, Maybank Securities on behalf of certain high-net-worth clients, UOB Asset Management, Value Partners Hong Kong and Whitefield Capital Management.
When asked if Avanda’s Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) fund — Avanda Singapore Discovery Fund — is investing in the IPO, Lim shares that he is not certain. Avanda Investment Management had previously informed The Edge Singapore that its EQDP fund would be fully allocated to Singapore-listed companies, with a “strong focus” on the small- and mid-cap segment. Avanda previously shared that its investments are based on three themes: value-up, local champions and turnaround.
The proceeds will be used to fund Coliwoo’s plans to accelerate its asset-light expansion that has already delivered high occupancy and steady room additions. The largest portion of the proceeds, approximately $40 million, is earmarked for expansion, growth, and asset enhancement of the co-living business, which will be undertaken through leased properties in existing and new markets.
Another $34 million will support the expansion, growth and asset enhancement of the co-living business, undertaken through owned and joint-venture properties in existing and new markets. These line items cover renovation and upgrading works to improve functionality, tenant experience and asset value, rather than implying outright acquisitions by default.
The remainder of the proceeds from the IPO will be allocated to loan repayment, including facilities used to refinance shareholder loans originally drawn for renovation, as well as general working capital such as manpower, marketing and professional fees. All in, the proceeds are positioned to fund 800 to 1,000 keys a year towards the group’s goal of about 4,000 rooms by next year, while keeping leverage and fixed-asset intensity in check.
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Beyond Singapore, Coliwoo also plans to broaden its regional footprint by expanding into Jakarta, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, leveraging favourable demographics and rising demand for flexible living solutions across Southeast Asia.
Coliwoo shares will commence trading on Nov 6.
Coliwoo intends to recommend and distribute dividends of not less than 40% of the group’s earnings, after adding back listing expenses and excluding fair value gains/losses on owned and joint-venture investment properties, impairment/write-off assets, non-recurring and one-off items, whether as an annual dividend or an interim dividend, for FY2025 and FY2026.
Time to move out
Coliwoo started as a rethink of how room renters live. Traditional “co-living” in Singapore often meant master-leased residential flats with shared kitchens and living rooms. LHN’s first large-format project flipped that: private suites with en-suite bathrooms for privacy, plus big common areas for residents to socialise, study, cook and do laundry in. The model gained traction; however, the Covid-19 pandemic then necessitated a “version two”, with kitchenettes and white goods relocated to rooms, allowing residents to self-contain when needed. The result became LHN’s most resilient, scalable consumer product.
Now, for Coliwoo to grow, its need for capital surged. “Basically, all financial resources go into Coliwoo,” Lim notes, while the other segments in LHN experienced slower growth as a result. Lim shares that LHN’s storage business is seeing growth with several potential opportunities ahead, as the Singapore government lifts its moratorium on the industry. With the spin-off listing, LHN and Coliwoo can raise capital independently and grow in tandem.
Lim’s playbook is to stay disciplined on tenders, spread licences across the hotel, serviced apartment and student-hostel formats, and keep product specs adaptable by location.
Aside from raising funds through an IPO, Lim shares that Coliwoo will be leaning into capital recycling. Where master leases are unavailable, LHN will own, create value through design and operations, and monetise via sale-and-leaseback. The way Lim sees it, the company can continue to run it, then recycle capital along the way. That way, it moves towards being more asset-light than asset-heavy. Currently, about 70% of Coliwoo’s rooms are under master-leased properties, while the remaining are owned assets.
Lim is clear that the spin-off is not a hollowing-out exercise. “SGX allowed the spin-off because after spinning off, the remaining business will not hollow out the company.” He expects the rest of LHN to “resume its growth plan” once capital is no longer funnelled primarily to Coliwoo.
Around late 2017, LHN was dual-listed in Hong Kong, as part of the wave of Singapore-based companies drawn there for the purported liquidity and valuation. As of Oct 30, LHN has been delisted from the Hong Kong exchange. “We realised that there are more shareholders concentrated in Singapore, while the volume in Hong Kong had decreased,” says Lim.
While maintaining the Hong Kong listing incurs costs for LHN, Lim adds that it was also easier to maintain its listing in Singapore, as shareholders in Singapore are more familiar with the business.
LHN had initially been listed in Hong Kong to expand into the Chinese market. In hindsight, not pursuing China aggressively proved a “blessing in disguise”, Lim says, noting that post-2018 rental declines in that market would have created a “big hole” had LHN ramped up there under a Hong Kong growth agenda.
Disciplined growth
LHN’s roots go back to the early 1990s, when the Lim family pivoted from a sunset timber and sawmill trade to leasing space in the family-owned warehouses — timber sheds were repurposed to meet surging storage demand from urban resettlement as kampongs were cleared and HDBs were built. Lim joined the family business in 1997 and began professionalising the industry in the 2000s. In the early days, customer acquisition was a manual, labour-intensive process. Lim recalls that the company had to “knock at doors, hang banners and send out fax notes” during the pre-Internet days.
Those were also the times when prices were competitive. This prompted LHN to think outside the box and offer bundled services, expanding beyond typical tenancy agreements to become what it is today, with its “real-estate-as-a-service” business model that commands a premium for providing added convenience and services.
In the 1990s, LHN carved out 2,000 sq ft bays using recycled zinc sheets for partitions and doors — a rudimentary but functional approach. By the 2000s, the business model evolved into master-leasing entire buildings and factories, curating the space before leasing it out to meet the needs of a restarting economy after the Asian Financial Crisis. “There were a lot of opportunities. Everybody needed space,” recalls Lim.
LHN then first ventured into the co-living space, as defined today, in 2019, when it entered into a joint venture with Hmlet in Cantonment. The rest is history, and Coliwoo is now one of the largest co-living brands in Singapore.
Coliwoo’s pitch to the market is a hybrid model of a hospitality-like operating model with real estate discipline around sites and licences, as well as a balanced capital approach between master leases and owned assets. Lim shares that while the initial growth of the Coliwoo brand relied on owned assets, allowing for easier control of leasing and property management, the brand has since expanded its operations.
While Coliwoo may be one of the big players in the co-living space, Lim notes that competition remains strong, as property owners and agents continue to convert regular apartments into co-living spaces, especially in the heavily trafficked residential segment. LHN’s stance is to avoid highly regulated residential-only plays and lean on licensed formats — such as hotels, serviced apartments, and student hostels — with a service layer and brand consistency. In a market where minimum tenancy rules have tightened, Lim argues that Coliwoo’s model is more defensible and scalable than pure apartment slicing.
Lim is following in the footsteps of hospitality giants that were once asset-heavy. As the brand matured, the time came for an expansion that could only be accelerated through an asset-light model. “We now have more master-leased properties than those that we own,” says Lim, adding that Coliwoo practises discipline, such that it will not risk its profits for growth. “We are not out to just grow revenue… We are profitable,” says Lim.
Coliwoo is profitable, but earnings can be lumpy, as is typical of many property plays. From FY2022 to FY2024, revenue grew from $15.3 million to $28.0 million, then to $52.1 million. Earnings growth has been uneven, with FY2022 earnings coming in at $33.5 million, then declining to $8.7 million and rebounding to $31.0 million in FY2024. This was primarily due to net fair value losses associated with the group’s investment properties and those of its joint ventures in FY2023. In the most recent 1HFY2025, earnings were $9.3 million on a revenue of $23.1 million
The company, already with a portfolio of some 3,000 rooms, is eager to grow, but Lim is careful not to be the one paying the top dollar in the competition for space. He shares that there were several tenders for operators on government property, such as the recently launched Coliwoo at Bukit Timah Fire Station. Lim says while LHN is not the highest bidder, it still won the bid, as it is deemed to have put forward a better concept. “Price is not everything,” Lim emphasises.
The brand competes not as a cheap substitute for residential rentals but as “real-estate-as-a-service” at studio-like price points with far less friction and several conveniences included. For instance, a studio apartment within the vicinity of Beauty World and Bukit Timah areas would cost roughly $3,000 a month. While rooms at Coliwoo command a slight premium, a unit that costs just above $3,000 a month would include utilities, maintenance, cleaning and internet, with furniture already fully fitted, as well as a flexible lease term.
While the initial rent of a studio apartment may seem cheaper, Lim notes that there may be “plus, plus, plus” fees that are not included. Eventually, the tenant may be paying a higher price per month, while also managing other errands, which could be especially confusing for foreigners unfamiliar with Singapore.
On the other hand, Coliwoo also has a disciplined approach to site selection, which Lim says is heavily data- and amenity-led, ensuring that Coliwoo locations are near public transport, job nodes, schools and lifestyle clusters. In Bukit Timah, for example, Coliwoo expects demand from students at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Institute of Management, Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic, as well as working professionals using the Downtown Line. The nearby green corridor and an on-site speciality café add to its pull as a lifestyle and social offering.
Lim, executive chairman of LHN, is spinning off Coliwoo for a separate listing, following which he will also assume the roles of executive chairman and CEO of Coliwoo
LHN’s outlook
With Coliwoo capitalised separately, LHN’s other engines can accelerate. In space optimisation, LHN will “discover other interesting space concepts” to roll out as services while resuming growth in self-storage now that the industry moratorium has been lifted. “We are in the midst of sourcing a new project,” says Lim, adding that JTC now allows self-storage operators to acquire JTC-lease properties again — a key enabler for LHN’s Work+Store expansion.
Facilities management is a stable cash flow business that LHN aims to grow inorganically through M&A, with several targets in view, according to Lim. The division will also shift its focus towards Singapore’s ageing demographics — specifically, Silver Generation services such as home care support and healthcare facilities management — and expand its energy offerings, encompassing solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects, as well as energy storage systems (ESS).
Lim also shares that LHN is expanding its electric vehicle charging ports in the carparks it operates, as part of a larger nationwide rollout.
On the other hand, M&A and property development remains opportunistic, focusing on commercial and industrial projects that integrate into existing operating platforms. Most recently, LHN took a 5% stake in a consortium that paid $351 million for 680 Upper Thomson Road. Oxley Holding’s Ching Chiat Kwong, investing in his private capacity, owns the largest stake of 26.5%; Centurion Properties, the privately held entity of David Loh and Han Seng Juan, controlling shareholders of listed Centurion Corp, is also involved in this venture, with a 22.5% stake. Recently listed Soon Hock Enterprise and KSH Holdings are also involved.
Overall, Lim is optimistic about medium-term demand across various property and hospitality sectors. For one, tourism is growing in Singapore. Coliwoo’s properties, which hold hotel licences enabling them to lease out rooms on a nightly basis rather than requiring a minimum stay period, and those located in central areas are expected to see an uptick in travellers booking rooms for their holidays.
Additionally, Lim observes a growing number of companies establishing value-added manufacturing facilities in Singapore, a steady influx of foreign professionals, and a noticeable increase in student numbers. This combination supports both LHN’s industrial space and Coliwoo’s co-living occupancy. “Even local universities are seeing an increase in student population as broader global dynamics shift flows around the region,” says Lim. “Singapore looks good.”
Financial performance, analyst comments
LHN’s share price has been enjoying a good rally for the past year. As at Nov 5, shares in LHN are up 124.3% in the past 12 months to close at 78 cents. The stock reached a 52-week high of $1.08 in September, driven by the Coliwoo IPO news and research analysts’ “buy” calls on the counter, before moderating to its current price.
LHN’s financial performance has also been healthy. In its 1HFY2025 ended March 31 results, earnings were 8.8% up y-o-y at $14.1 million. In comparison, revenue increased by 29.4% to $70.6 million, driven by contributions from its property development business and a rise in revenue from its co-living business, particularly in the space optimisation and facilities management segment.
UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH) analyst Heidi Mo has a “buy” call and 98.5 cents target price on LHN, as she sees the Coliwoo listing as a “key milestone”. The IPO will enhance transparency, provide direct capital access, and crystallise value for shareholders. After the listing, LHN is expected to hold approximately 70% of Coliwoo, retaining majority exposure to its growth.
“Occupancy across Coliwoo’s portfolio rebounded to 96.7% by September, after a temporary dip from new launches. With rates at 40%–50% below hotels but offering serviced amenities, Coliwoo continues to attract expatriates, corporates, and students,” says Mo.
UOBKH cites a JLL report stating that foreign students are a major driver of co-living demand in Singapore, with arrivals expected to exceed 60,000 annually by 2026, as many seek flexible housing. “This trend reinforces resilient rental demand and supports Coliwoo as a core earnings contributor,” says Mo.
Meanwhile, LHN’s Work+Store brand is scaling into specialised formats such as air-conditioned and wine storage, tapping into the rising demand for flexible storage solutions. Mo says: “Singapore’s self-storage industry is expanding rapidly, with demand estimated to grow 10% to 15% annually. With shrinking home sizes, rising residential costs and land scarcity fuelling demand, LHN’s Work+Store, which integrates storage and workspace, is well-positioned to capture this growth.”
PhillipCapital too is upbeat on LHN’s prospects, as it keeps a “buy” call and $1.13 target price amid several opportunities for Coliwoo to grow, including the upcoming Jalan Loyang Besar property that is expected to open in 3Q2026; healthcare worker accommodation contracts won this year; and potential conversion of business park places into co-living units.
Analyst Paul Chew says: “After the uncertainty for the past few years, Work+Store’s storage business is set to resume its growth. In the past, storage was primarily used for the safekeeping of personal items. Demand has now expanded to businesses and air-conditioned storage spaces that can afford to pay higher rents. Work+Store facilities provide affordable space for small business operators.”
