IPO News

Michaniki, Greece's fifth-biggest builder, has postponed plans for an initial public offering in London as the global credit crisis hurts real estate prices, Chief Financial Officer Apostolos Athanasopoulos said.

The company may consider a listing in 2010, the executive said in an interview in London, adding that Michaniki has “sustainable” financing through 2009 to cover building plans that include a $283 million skyscraper in Moscow and luxury villas near the pyramids in Kerdasa, Egypt.

Since September 2007, when the Kathimerini newspaper reported that Michaniki was considering listing on London's Alternative Investment Market, rising interest rates have crimped demand for apartments in Russia, where nine of the Athens-based company's 15 planned developments are located.

Last month, Moscow-based Real Estate Market Indicators said apartment prices in the city may decline for the first time in 11 years in 2009. Prices for homes in Moscow have risen more than sixfold since 2003, according to Metrinfo.ru, a market research company, making them the most expensive after London and Monaco.

The developer, which also owns properties in Bulgaria and Belarus, has an order backlog worth 330 million euros ($460 million), the executive said. First-half net income jumped to 31 million euros from 16.3 million euros a year earlier.

Michaniki will buy a third property, worth at least $2 million, on Egypt's northern coast by the end of next year, Athanasopoulos said. The company, which is currently listed in Athens, is also considering further projects in Belarus and Bulgaria.