Singapore property firm Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) is studying the possibility of setting up a real estate investment trust (Reit).

The company made this announcement in a filing to the Singapore Exchange earlier Thursday afternoon.

OUE added that it is in preliminary discussions with banks. The properties to be injected into the Reit, the timeline for the listing and the amounts to be raised have not been finalised yet.

Earlier Thursday morning, OUE had submitted a request for a trading halt on its shares at 9.30am.

The halt followed reports that OUE has chosen three banks - Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered - for its planned US$800 million listing of the Reit in the second half of the year.

The firm, which owns commercial properties and hotels, had earlier planned a Reit in 2011, but put that on hold later.

Before trading was halted, OUE shares edged up 2 cents to $3.02 in the morning session. After the trading halt was lifted, OUE shares rose further, to $3.10.