(SINGAPORE) China may be the watchword among IPO investors, but listings on the Singapore Exchange are getting a more diverse international flavour.

Those hard put to remember the last time an Indian firm listed here - or a Japanese one for that matter - will find several such offerings coming their way. Developments in recent weeks are a testimony to issue managers and the exchange itself, which has actively been courting companies, and not just from China.

So, this month, Mercator Lines, a unit of India's second largest shipping group, is expected to register its final prospectus here. Following it could be a US$2 billion Reit from DLF, the country's largest property developer and a more modest offering from business park developer Embassy Group.

Meanwhile, Japan- based Saizen Reit listed last Friday.

Year-to-date, of the 60 overseas firms that have either listed on SGX or are seeking to do so, nine have nothing to do with either China or Hong Kong, according to Thompson Financial data and lodgments with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

They include the Lippo-Mapletree Indonesia Retail Reit and United Overseas Australia, a Malaysia-based property firm.

And sources say Samko Timber, a leading producer of tropical hardwood from Indonesia, could register for a $100-$200 million IPO by December. Including Samko, DLF and Embassy - none of which have lodged any documents with the MAS - the number of non-Chinese foreign listings could rise to 12.

In 2006, just 5 out of 54 new overseas listings were from outside China or Hong Kong; in 2005, the figure was 8 out of 57.

The SGX says this evidence of growing diversity is sustainable. 'We aim to have multiple sources of listing,' said Lawrence Wong, SGX's head of listings, describing the exchange as an 'Asian gateway.'

The search for non-Chinese listings stems, in part, from changes in Chinese regulations in September 2006, which bar Chinese firms from listing overseas without approval. This limits the potential IPO supply. But bankers say a wider geographic net was always on the agenda. 'There has always been a drive to diversify from the geographic reliance on China', said Ding Hock Chai, co-head of corporate finance at Kim Eng Capital. 'We're helped by a buoyant market.'

But critics say while Singapore is seeing listings from more countries, these are mainly Reits or business trusts.

Japanese listings, for example, are 'predominantly driven by yield-based asset-backed instruments,' said Mr Ding. According to Thompson Financial, the last Japanese firm to list here, electronics manufacturer Maruwa Co, did so in 2001, and no longer trades.

From India too, much of the interest comes from the property sector.

The listing of Ascendas India Trust (AIT) this year excited Indian developers, said Rachel Eng, a partner at Wong Partnership and head of the firm's capital markets & corporate department.

Because AIT's business trust structure allows the sponsor to inject properties still under development into the vehicle - unlike Reits, which cap the proportion of development properties at 10 per cent of assets - it 'gives them fresh options', said Ms Eng.

'There is a real pick-up in activity from India this year,' she said.

Other Indian listings could be hindered, again, by regulations. In September 2005, India said that only firms listed on domestic exchanges can list offshore. The rules prompted Meghmani Organics, a dye and agrochemicals maker that listed in Singapore in 2004 - the only Indian firm to have done so before this year - to dual list at home.

But Patrick Lee, UBS's head of investment banking for Singapore and Malaysia, believes the SGX also attracts maritime businesses like Mercator or those in offshore & marine.

UBS also receives inquiries from 'borderless' companies with international businesses and assets, and no particular domicile, he said. One example is Chemoil Energy, a leading physical supplier of marine fuel that listed here last year.

The bank continues to see 'a steady flow from China and India, and a few out of Indonesia,' said Mr Lee.

SGX's Mr Gan said the exchange has 'seen Indonesian companies in the pipeline', and 'received queries routed through investment banks for Malaysian businesses, from property to manufacturing.'

South-east Asian candidates have always been attracted by Singapore's integrity and stability, said Kim Eng's Mr Ding.

SGX also has yet to see its first listing from the Gulf, after Bahrain-based Arcapita Utility Trust cancelled its US$300 million listing in August. But sources say talks are on for a similar trust, likewise backed by a royalty-linked Middle East banking group.

Still, market volatility in the wake of the sub-prime crisis and high energy prices has already jeopardised two listings. Even as Saizen listed last Friday, counterpart APL Japan Trust postponed its $400 million-plus IPO, saying negative market sentiment could lead to poor price performance post-listing.

APL said it would come back next year, but the Altitude Aircraft Leasing Trust, which said yesterday it was deferring its IPO as well, gave no such promise.