The Santa Monica-based real estate company (the Trillium in Woodland Hills, One Westwood, Studio Plaza in Burbank and many others) began trading this morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DEI.

The real estate investment trust (it's a company required to pass along most of its profits to shareholders) raised almost $1.39 billion in an initial public offering that was priced at the top end of underwriters' expected price range. That gives Douglas Emmett Inc. an initial market capitalization of $2.4 billion, pretty nice dough considering that several REITS have bailed out of the market to become privately held or controlled by larger companies. Given investor interest, the company wound up increasing the number of shares it planned to sell - 66 million from 55 million. All told, it's shaping up to be the largest IPO for an equity REIT this year. The company's focus is office and multifamily, two areas doing well these days. Douglas Emmett was formed in 1971, co-founded by Dan A. Emmett, the company's chairman.

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