Germany's Bilfinger Berger has suspended the initial public offering of its Australian business recently named Valemus, citing a weak market.

''Due to negative developments on the capital markets, Bilfinger Berger has decided to postpone the initial public offering of its Australian subsidiary,'' the company said in a statement overnight.

According to chairman Herbert Bodner ''Bilfinger Berger's asking price for the Australian business cannot realistically be achieved in light of the current adverse conditions on the stock exchange.''

In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index has slumped by almost 13 per cent since the end of 2009.

Germany's second-biggest builder Bilfinger said the next window of opportunity for an IPO of Valemus will be early 2011.

The company previously declared it hoped to amass as much as $1.66 billion in the IPO as it moves to leave the volatile construction sector to concentrate on more lucrative service activities. The IPO would have been Australia's biggest flotation in eight months.

Valemus has a 4 per cent stake of an approximated $120 billion in Australian construction and engineering work available each year.

Bilfinger's motion comes as recent IPOs have posted double-digit slumps against their debut prices, and global markets have been stirred by worries about the growing European debt crisis.

The move also comes seven months after the company's German rival Hochtief discarded plans to sell part of its airport unit to accumulate up to 1 billion euros, blaming the financial crisis in Dubai for dim investor interest.

''We are not under pressure to sell and have always emphasised that we would not part with our successful Australian business at an undervalued price,'' said Mr Bodner.

Shares in the German group slid 3 per cent to 43.02 euros in late Frankfurt trade. The MDax index on which Bilfinger is listed went 0.2 per cent up overall.