Dubai's Nakheel mulls $15 bln dual listing - paper

DUBAI Jan 4 (Reuters) - State-owned Nakheel, developer of Dubai's palm-tree shaped islands, is considering a dual stock listing in London and Dubai to raise as much as $15 billion to bolster its finances, the Telegraph said on Sunday.

The newspaper, citing unidentified sources close to the situation, said Nakheel's need for capital has increased and bankers at JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) have been examining options to raise money, including a dual listing on Nasdaq Dubai and in London. The timing has not yet been decided, it said.

Nakheel said in September that it would make a decision regarding a public listing within 12 months.

The firm -- which said at the time it was pursuing all ways to raise capital, including traditional debt issues and private equity -- put off plans to raise funds via an initial public offering of real estate investment trusts (REITs) by last October amid global financial market turmoil.

In a statement on Sunday, a Nakheel spokeswoman said "an IPO is one of our options; it doesn't mean that an IPO is imminent."

"A company the size of Nakheel is constantly exploring all capital raising options," the statement said.

If listed, Nakheel could become one of the biggest publicly traded companies in the Gulf rivalling Dubai's Emaar Properties EMAR.DU, the biggest listed developer in the Arab world.

(Reporting by Jason Benham; Editing by Kim Coghill)