Los Angeles-based Douglas Emmett has filed to raise $1.3bn (€1bn) in the largest US real estate initial public offering on record as Franklin Templeton Investments launches a new global real estate fund.

Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup are leading the initial public offering, which is also the second-largest US flotation this year behind the $2.6bn raised by credit card issuer MasterCard, according to Dealogic, the investment banking research provider.