Halvern files for $400 mln initial public offering

* Halvern to buy office properties at significant discount

* To focus on Southern California counties

* Former Arden Realty CEO to lead Halvern REIT

LOS ANGELES, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Halvern Realty filed for an initial public offering on Friday to raise $400 million through sales of common shares to fund its purchase of distressed office properties, a securities filing showed.

According to a prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Halvern plans to operate as a real estate investment trust and acquire, own and manage a portfolio of office properties located in southern California -- initially in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura.

Halvern Realty is the latest in a series of new companies seeking deals that will let them profit from the economic recession and tight credit markets.

The company plans to buy properties priced "at a significant discount to replacement cost" and that are either underperforming or have stable cash flow that can be improved through aggressive leasing, asset management and repositioning, the filing said.

The filing did not list the number of shares to be offered, the proposed IPO date or the per-share price of the stock, which Halvern expects to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Halvern's management will be led by chairman and chief executive Richard Ziman, the founding chairman and CEO of Arden Realty, and chief operating officer and chief financial officer Mark Albertson, the filing said.

Halvern has no operating history and has not yet identified specific properties to buy, the filing said.

Earlier this month, San Francisco-based Terreno Realty Corp filed for a similar IPO, saying it hopes to find deals on industrial real estate in six major U.S. coastal areas including Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco.

The company said it plans to sell 15 million shares, which it expects to price at $20 each.

Also this month, New Jersey-based REIT Chesapeake Lodging Trust Corp indefinitely postponed its IPO due to market conditions.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB.N) raised about $350 million in its IPO and refrigerated warehouse REIT, Americold Realty Trust, filed for a $690 million IPO last week.

(Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Paul Tait)