Malaysia's Permodalan Nasional Bhd appointed banks including Credit Suisse Group AG and JPMorgan Chase and Co to merge property assets valued at about RM15 billion before listing them as a possible trust next year, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Southeast Asian nation's biggest state-owned asset manager is also working with Malayan Banking Bhd, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information is private. Assets that will be restructured include properties in the UK, Australia and Malaysia and real estate under PNB's development arm IandP Group Sdn, they said.

A valuation of RM15 billion would make the entity the biggest listed property trust or developer by market capitalization in Malaysia, data compiled by Bloomberg show. KLCC Property Holdings Bhd, which owns Kuala Lumpur's 88-floor twin towers, is currently the largest at RM11.7 billion, the data show.

The plans are at an early stage and PNB hasn't made a final decision on whether to list the properties, said one person. Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, its chief executive officer, couldn't be immediately reached for comment by phone and e-mail.

PNB was formed by the Malaysian government in 1978 to help boost the wealth of the country's ethnic Malays and indigenous people, who can buy its trusts. The fund had RM255 billion of assets under management as of July 31, with investments in more 200 local companies in industries including finance, construction and plantations, according to its website.

The holdings include controlling stakes in some of the country's biggest listed companies, such as palm oil producer Sime Darby Bhd, the lender known as Maybank and developer SP Setia Bhd. The restructuring won't involve properties held by SP Setia or Sime Darby, the people said.

"A property trust offering quality yields and Grade A buildings could be interesting and may appeal to global fund managers," Gerald Ambrose, who oversees the equivalent of US$1.7 billion as managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management Sdn, said by phone in Kuala Lumpur. "As far as overall perception is concerned, the fact that they have left SP Setia to run itself is a good thing."

The exercise also excludes a 100-floor tower the fund plans to construct in Kuala Lumpur, one of the people said. The building, called Warisan Merdeka, will be the nation's tallest when complete, overtaking the Petronas Twin Towers.

IandP was created in 2009 following the merger of three listed property companies that PNB took private. It has a land bank of 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares), of which 4,600 acres with a total gross development value of RM25 billion have yet to be built on, according to its website.

The fund manager owns Santos Place in Australia's Brisbane and three office buildings in London. They are Milton and Shire House, One Exchange Square and 90 High Holborn, Hamad Kama Piah told reporters in March 2012.-- Bloomberg