DLF Assets to raise $1 bn from overseas listing

DLF Assets is expected to file for REIT (real estate investment trust) IPO in Singapore next month, the company sources said. The company was looking to raise about one billion dollars from the public issue, they added. DLF Assets, which has been set up for holding completed commercial assets, is owned by DLF Ltd's promoters. It is independent of DLF Ltd. DAPL was set up for bidding along with other companies in potential assets sales by DLF Ltd. Singh, the chairman of DLF Ltd, had announced in May during the roadshows for DLF's IPO: "Eventually, DLF Assets will be a formidable listed company". The planned REIT by DLF Assets comes close on the heels of IPO by Ascendas India Trust, a business trust with similar characteristics to a REIT, in Singapore stock market. DLF Assets Pvt Ltd (DAPL) had earlier received an investment of 400 million dollars and 200 million dollars from global investing firm D E Shaw and a fund sponsored by investment banking firm Lehman Brothers respectively. The sale of commercial assets to DLF Assets contributed Rs 2,207 crore to DLF Ltd's revenue and Rs 1,564 crore to its profit before tax in 2006-07, making up around 55 per cent of DLF Ltd's revenue and 61 per cent of its pre-tax profit.