News: CBA UPDATE 1-Australia's Link says will list PEXA with $2.5 bln valuation

(Adds context, details of IPO)

May 31 (Reuters) - PEXA's top shareholder, Link Administration Holdings Ltd, (LNK) said on Monday it would take the online real estate company public on the Australian stock exchange with an enterprise value of A$3.3 billion ($2.54 billion).

The bookbuild process for the initial public offering (IPO) had completed and PEXA was expected to start trading towards the end of June, Link said.

Last week, U.S.-based private-equity giant KKR & Co KKR.N offered more than A$3 billion for PEXA, conditional on Link scrapping plans to list the company, a matter the shareholder registry firm had been mulling since last year, along with a trade sale.

Link had set June as a deadline for bidders for PEXA, which has grown rapidly due to a booming Australian property market and a shift to digital channels amid the pandemic.

Link said it would get about A$50 million in cash from the IPO and its stake in PEXA would increase to 47% from 44.2%.

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners MS.N and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) currently own the rest.

According to media reports https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/pexa-kicks-off-910-million-ipo-in-year-s-biggest-for-australia#:~:text=The%20price%20has%20been%20set,an%20offer%20from%20KKR%20%26%20Co, PEXA is expected to raise A$1.18 billion at A$17.13 per share, which would make it the biggest IPO this year on the ASX. ($1 = 1.2970 Australian dollars)