DLF mulls Singapore listing

New Delhi: Close on the heels of taking DLF Ltd public with a Rs 9,187.5-crore IPO, Mr K.P. Singh has now set his sights on listing DLF Assets in Singapore in a $1-billion public offer.

DLF Assets, which has been set up for holding and buying yielding commercial assets and is owned by DLF Ltd’s promoter family, is expected to file for a real estate investment trust (REIT) IPO in Singapore next month, sources said.

DLF Assets is independent of DLF Ltd and was set up for bidding, along with other companies, in potential assets sales by DLF Ltd.

The sale of commercial assets to DLF Assets contributed Rs 2,207 crore to DLF Ltd’s revenue and Rs 1,564 crore to profit before tax in 2006-07, accounting for 55 per cent of DLF Ltd’s revenue and 61 per cent of its pre-tax profit.

“The portfolio of DLF Assets comprises SEZs at this point and the company has bought or contracted 12 million sq ft of space from DLF Ltd,” the sources said.

The planned REIT by DLF Assets comes close on the heels of an IPO by Ascendas India Trust, a business trust with characteristics similar to that of a REIT, in the Singapore stock market.

DLF Assets had earlier received an investment of $400 million and $200 million from global investing firm DE Shaw and a fund sponsored by investment banking firm Lehman Brothers respectively.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has assigned highest rating (A1+) to the Rs 2,000-crore short-term debt programme of DLF.

The shares of DLF Ltd surged 8.76 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday to close at Rs 713.25.

During the day, the scrip touched a 52-week high of Rs 719.90.