News: DLF’s $3 bn IPO withdrawn, to refile draft prospectus

(RTR 31/08/2006) Mumbai - Top Indian property firm DLF Universal Ltd. is withdrawing its draft public offer document and will refile shortly, a senior company official said on television on Thursday.

DLF, whose proposed initial public offer has already been hit by a market slide, said it was withdrawing the draft document in order to update it with its new business plans.

"The company has moved forward in its business plan," Saurabh Chawla, senior vice president of finance, told CNBC-TV18.

"So we thought it prudent to update the red herring prospectus and refile before we hit the market," he said.

Chawla said he could not give a timeframe for when the document would be refiled with the markets regulator.

"But it will be soon," he said.

Some local reports indicated DLF may refile at the end of September.

The New Delhi-based company filed its offer document a day after the Mumbai market hit a historic peak in mid-May.

The firm expected to raise $3-$3.5 billion from a proposed sale in June of up to 12.8 percent, or 219 million shares, including an option for an additional 17 million.

Bankers said at the time DLF, which plans to develop special economic zones and hotels to tap the booming property market, would need to cut the offer price as investor appetite had waned following a steep market correction after the May peak.

DLF also deferred a pre-IPO share sale to institutional investors from which it aimed to raise between $100 million and $500 million.