Indiabulls, Unitech put Singapore REIT IPOs on hold

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Mumbai: Being cautious on volatile markets, Indian developers Indiabulls Real Estate and Unitech have put on hold their plans for initial public offers of their real estate investment trusts (REIT) in Singapore, officials said on Friday. Sources say that company's larger rival DLF might also delay its plans for a Singapore REIT listing. "Our bankers have advised us to wait and watch till the markets stabilize," said R. Nagaraju, general manager of corporate planning at Unitech, which had planned to raise about $500 million from the IPO. Business Standard daily on Friday reported that Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate had received approval for the IPOs and the two companies were exploring private placements. Nagaraju declined to comment on the placement, while an official at Indiabulls Real Estate said "all options were open". "The first option was obviously the REIT. But we will wait till the markets stabilize for that," said Ajit Mittal, head of investor relations. Indiabulls Real Estate was expected to raise about $1 billion from the IPO, bankers have said. A source said on Thursday that DLF, which had planned to raise $1.5 billion from the Singapore listing, might delay a planned IPO in Singapore of its REIT and instead opt for a private placement to raise about $500 million. Volatile markets have seen more than $23 billion in global IPO plans postponed or withdrawn, according to Thomson Financial.