On 24 May DLF Limited, a leading Indian real estate company, filed its prospectus with the Indian Registrar of Companies for its long awaited initial public offer. DLF is offering 175 mil equity shares in total, comprised of 1 mil shares to employees at Rs2 each, with the remainder 174 mil available to the public at a price range of Rs500 to 550.

Using a 100 percent book building process, the issue will open on 11th June 2007 and close on 14th June and if all shares are sold within the stated range will generate over US$2.2 bil for the company. It is considered the largest Indian IPO to date and the company says it will divert raised funds to development and real estate projects.

Some analysts have estimated that the DLF offering comes at a time when investing in real estate companies is on the wane. It has been compared to the launch of Sobha Developers whose listing on 20 December 2006 gained a record premium of 78.63 percent. Grey market trading in the shares has been at a purported six percent premium, lower than Sobha by a significant amount.

The DLF issue will constitute 10.27 percent of the fully diluted post-issue capital of the company with stated objectives being to “Augment the Company's capital base to meet the future capital requirements arising out of growth of the Company's assets”.

DLF is the largest real estate development company in India in terms of the area completed and commercial development (AC Nielsen Report). DLF's primary business is the development of residential, commercial and retail properties most of which are in the north of the country around its New Delhi base.

In its commercial business line, DLF builds and sells or leases commercial office space, with a focus on properties that are attractive to large multinational tenents. DLF retail business line develops, manages and mainly leases shopping malls, which in many cases include multiplex cinemas. DLF is also expanding its infrastructure, SEZs and hotel business. RFP

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