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Commercial office space landlord RMZ Offices, in which Qatar Investment Authority is a large investor, plans to raise as much as $1.5 billion, or Rs 9,000 crore, through a real estate investment trust (REIT) either in Singapore or Mumbai.

The Bangalore-based developer has started work with bankers to take its rent yielding office buildings, valued at $3 billion, public within 15 months, RMZ corporate vice-chairman Manoj Menda told TOI. RMZ and Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth manager of Qatar, will sell 50% stake in RMZ Offices, he added.

REITs are designed to provide an investment structure in real estate similar to the kind that mutual funds provide for investment in traded stocks, and are inflation indexed. Big-ticket listing of real estate investment trusts are expected to kick off with finance minister Arun Jaitley’s maiden Budget unveiling positive tax moves and Sebi set to announce final guidelines on the subject.

“By this time next year, we will have a portfolio of 20 million leased office space generating $225 million net operating income. And there will be another 19 million to be developed over the next five years,” Menda said. RMZ is seeking 12 times valuation on the net income, while Singapore-based Ascendas, which owns IT parks in India, currently trades at 14 times on SGX.

“We are currently running on both tracks — listing in Singapore or in India. We will decide on the listing exchange depending on which puts more money in the hands of the shareholders,” he said, suggesting he was awaiting clarity on taxation procedures from the Indian regulators.

The Menda family, which owns RMZ, would keep anywhere between 25 to 30% post the listing while QIA and Baring Private Equity Partners would own the remaining 20-25%. Baring, which is an investor in the development company, would flip their ownership into the REIT as the objective was to provide “a liquid option” to the existing investors.

Via : TOI