Qatar's Aamal Co has postponed plans to list shares in London after failing to reach the valuation it had hoped for in a rocky European market for share offerings, two sources close to the deal said on Thursday.

The diversified trading, property and industrial company had aimed to list up to 24 percent of its share capital in the form of global depositary receipts, boosting its free float from a previously illiquid 0.3 percent.

'Ultimately when there is a listed price and the price the market is willing to pay is meaningfully below that ... they weren't happy to sell the stake and decided to postpone,' said one of the sources.

The European market for new listings has had a tough year so far with investors, jaded by the number of withdrawn deals and poor performances once companies have floated, increasingly demanding greater discounts.

Banks running Aamal's offering had begun bookbuilding without setting a price range to reduce the risk of wider market uncertainty impacting the process. But despite attracting orders, the company was not happy with the price.

The offering, made up of existing shares, would have raised a maximum of around $400 million to $500 million, the source added.   

Aamal, which had said it would also maintain its listing on the Qatar Exchange, was not available for comment.
   
Citi and HSBC were joint global coordinators of the offering and Arab African International Bank was a co-lead manager.-Reuters