11/04/2013 (Fox Business) - IOI Corp. Bhd (1961.KU), Malaysia's fourth-largest listed palm oil producer by acreage, is planning an initial public offering of its property arm that may value the company as much as 10 billion ringgit ($3.3 billion), a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The company bought out its property arm for MYR310 million in cash and shares, valuing the unit at about MYR1.3 billion in 2009, in a bid to leverage the parent company's much larger financial resources to raise funding.

IOI also contemplated a relisting of its unit in Singapore last year.

"IOI is seeking to unlock better valuation of its plantation business," the person told Dow Jones Newswires.

Details such as the structure and size of the funds to be raised are still being discussed, the person said, adding that the company has appointed AmInvestment Bank Bhd as the lead banker for the deal.

A company spokeswoman declined to comment immediately on the issue.

If successful, the proposed listing slated for the fourth quarter will likely add to a roster of deals planned for this year, after a bumper 2012 that boosted the Southeast Asian country in global IPOs.

Among the deals in queue are a $1 billion offering from power producer Malakoff Corp. and a $500 million IPO by the oil-and-gas unit of UMW Holdings Bhd.

Last year was a record year for Malaysian listings. The Southeast Asian country ranked fifth globally in terms of deal value, according to data compiled by Dealogic.

In 2011, Malaysia ranked 14th with $2.3 billion raised, less than a third of the $7.5 billion it racked up last year.