Lotte Shopping, the country’s largest retailer, made a step towards selling 18 retail properties for a total of 1 trillion won after Singaporean authorities on Wednesday approved the initial public offering for the malls on the Singapore Exchange.

The offering for the Real Estate Investment Trust would be the largest overseas IPO by a Korean company to date, sources said. The listed properties include Lotte Department Stores in Pohang, Ilsan, Jeonju, Sangin and Centum city in Busan as well as Lotte Mart buildings.

Lotte is planning to rent the buildings once they are sold, to continue the business. It previously arranged such “sale and lease back” deals for four Lotte Marts and one Bundang department store in 2010 to raise 600 billion won.

Lotte will consult with its investors in the next couple of weeks to finalize the listing by the end of March. It is planning to offer a yield around 6-7 percent, sources said. Details on the plan remain undisclosed.

Lotte, the country’s fifth largest business conglomerate, is hoping that the IPO will attract foreign investors and raise brand awareness in the Southeast Asia region, where it holds a handful of businesses already. Lotte currently has retail stores in China, Vietnam and Indonesia and has announced business expansion including beverage bottling in the Philippines and Myanmar.

Singapore was seen as the best destination for the trust listings. It is regarded as a strong pipeline for such offerings with deals worth $3 billion in the works and 50 trusts with a combined market capitalization of around $65 billion calling it home.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)