Nakheel may follow Emaar unit's IPO lead

[DUBAI] The chief executive of Dubai's palm island developer Nakheel said the success of a share sale by the malls unit of rival Emaar Properties could encourage it to list its own shares on the emirate's stock market.

Emaar, Dubai's largest real estate developer, is aiming to raise as much as US$1.58 billion from the offer of shares in Emaar Malls Group, which is expected to be the Gulf's biggest stock sale since 2008.

Institutional investors covered their portion of the deal after one day of marketing, and the flotation is expected to encourage others into listing shares after a drought of initial public offerings in the emirate in recent years.