UPDATE 1-ECM Real Estate plans Prague IPO to fund expansion

(Adds details, background on bourse listings)

PRAGUE, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Luxembourg-registered property developer ECM Real Estate Investments wants to go public this year to raise funds for expansion, the company said on Tuesday.

ECM, which is most active in the Czech Republic, said it was planning to launch an initial public offering of shares on the Prague Stock Exchange in November or December, the second only public flotation of a company's shares in the bourse's history.

It said it also intended to privately place shares with selected institutional investors in Europe.

"ECM is currently in a strong position to go public," said Milan Janku, president and chief executive.

"The proceeds of this IPO will be used by the company for expansion, acquisition of new projects and the strengthening of its investment portfolio," ECM added in a statement.

The sole global coordinator is CA IB, an investment banking unit of Unicredit Group <CRDI.MI>, and Austria's Erste Bank <ERST.VI> is co-lead manager.

ECM said it started its Czech business in 1991 and had grown to become one of the biggest property developers in the country.

It said it has completed 10 projects and is currently either planning or completing 15 new projects in the Czech Republic and Russia. This includes a plan to spend 100 million euros ($128.6 million) on a shopping mall in the Russian city of Ryazan, 180km southeast of the capital Moscow.

The first and last company to ever go public on the Prague Stock Exchange was drug maker Zentiva <ZNTVsp.PR> in 2004.

Two firms -- real estate company Orco <ORCO.PA> <ORCOsp.PR> and media operator CME <CETV.O> <CETVsp.PR> -- listed shares in Prague alongside their home markets.

Orco's success, whose shares have more than doubled in price since it joined the bourse in February 2005, and growing investor interest in the booming property sector has led to several real estate firms to consider IPOs. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus, editing by Greg Mahlich; Reuters Messaging: marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; tel: +420 224 190 477))

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Keywords: PROPERTY CZECH ECM