15/1/07 (AP) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Boustead Properties on Monday launched a 229.7 million ringgit (US$64.5 million, Ð54 million) initial public offer of Malaysia’s first-ever oil palm plantation real estate investment trust.

The IPO comes at a time when plantation stocks have risen and palm oil prices are close to eight-year highs amid fears of a supply shortage due to bad weather. In the past two months, Malaysia _ the world’s biggest palm oil producer  has been hit by massive floods.

According to the offer document, 198 million units of the Al Hadharah Boustead REIT will be sold to institutional investors at 1.05 ringgit (US$0.30, Ð0.25) each.

Another 20 million units of the Sharia-compliant REIT will be sold to the public at 0.99 ringgit (US$0.28, Ð0.23) each while 2 million will be allocated for company staff and directors, it said.

Al Hadharah REIT, which owns eight plantations and two palm oil mills across the country, will derive rental income from its assets and participate in profit-sharing based on a formula correlated to prices of crude palm oil and fresh palm oil fruit.

In view of buoyant crude palm oil prices and the industry’s rosy outlook, the mechanism could mean more handsome dividend yields for investors,’ Boustead said in a statement.

The profit-sharing formula makes the REIT attractive as unit-holders only share in the upside of crude palm oil prices but not in the downside,’ it said.

The offer ends Jan. 26 and the REIT will be traded from Feb. 8.