i-REIT from GCC may list next year

BURSA Malaysia Bhd expects an Islamic real estate investment trust (i-REIT) from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be listed on the exchange next year, adding to its three existing i-REITS.

It did not identify the issuer, but market speculation is that that it may be Qatar-listed property group Ezdan.

News reports as early as May last year indicated that Ezdan was interested in listing an i-REIT made up of Qatar-based assets on Bursa.

"I don't think they (the issuer) have decided what they want to put in yet because it is a very big company. In their market, they're one of the top 10 listed companies. The reason they're coming over is because they don't have a REIT framework," Bursa's global head of Islamic markets, Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz, told reporters after speaking at the Global Islamic Finance Forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Meanwhile, a US-dollar exchange traded fund (ETF) by BNP Paribas Investment Partners may be listed here by year-end or in the first quarter next year. The ETF is pending the Securities Commission's approval, she said.

By Business Times