Unitech, Indiabulls defer REITs listing

Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) have deferred the listing of their respective real estate investment trusts (REITs) on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX)owing to the liquidity crunch in the global markets.

Both Unitech and IBREL have received approval from the SGX for the initial public offers (IPOs) of their trusts.

The move closely follows a similar decision by DLF, India's largest real estate company, on its property trust.

The companies are now exploring private placements with global finance majors for their expansion plans.

DLF, which had plans to raise nearly Rs 8,000 crore from the listing of its property trust, will now raise nearly Rs 2,000 crore from domestic financial institutions.

Indiabulls' IPO, scheduled to hit the market mid-March, was expected to mop up $1.2 billion (Rs 4,800-crore), while Indiabulls was to sell 14 per cent of its property trust Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust (IPIT).

IPIT was to acquire One Indiabulls Centre and Elphinstone Mills, developed and owned by Indiabulls at central Mumbai, collectively valued at Rs 8,080 crore.

"We have no definite timeframe in mind,'' said a source in Indiabulls, adding, " Given the kind of projects we have and the trust we enjoy in the market, we can easily get enough funds for our projects.''

Unitech was planning to raise Rs 2,800 crore ($700 million) from the Unitech Office Trust, which was to acquire its IT/ITeS properties in Noida, Gurgaon and Kolkata.

Earlier, it planned to raise nearly Rs 8,000 crore from the IPO, which was scaled down to Rs 2,800 crore due to global market volatality.

"We are keeping the plans on hold due to the market uncertainty. However, we always explore alternative options such as private equity, debt and private placement to fund our plans,'' said a senior official of Unitech.

The company has also put on hold a $1.5 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue planned for the first quarter of 2008.