Aussie property giant mulls Dubai listing

by Alex Delmar Morgan Monday, 06 October 2008

Quoted Australian property giant Sunland is mulling a listing in Dubai, Arabian Business has learnt.

Speaking at the real estate conference Cityscape in Dubai, the Queensland-based developer's managing director Soheil Abedian told Arabian Business that floating in Dubai strategically made sense because the region had become such an important centre for business, with the company now doing much of its work in emirate.
"We haven't made a decision, but it is something we are thinking about. It makes sense. It would be prudent for us to investigate the Dubai stock exchange," Abedian said.

It is not clear whether Sunland would list on the Dubai Financial Market or the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).

Iranian born Abedian, who founded Sunland group 25 years ago, said talks about a Dubai listing were at an early stage and no plans had been put in place for fundraising yet.

The news underlines Dubai's growing significance as a leading financial centre and highlights the relative strength of the property market in the Gulf as investor appetite dries up in Europe and the US due to the credit squeeze.

Currently Sunland, which has a market value of around $630m, is only listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

However, the company has not been immune from the global liquidity squeeze and turmoil in the money markets this year.

The developer has seen nearly 50 percent wiped off the value of its share price in the last 12 months.

At the end of October last year the stock was priced at AUS$4.60 but dropped to as low as AUS$1.93 in July.

On Monday, shares fell 5.7 percent to stand at AUS$2.30.



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