Real estate firm, HomeAfrika, has announced fresh plans to raise Sh1.5 billion from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in the current financial year. The funds are meant to finance real estate projects in various counties. The company intends to raise the funds from the stock market in two phases.
The funds raised in the first phase will finance the 774-acre Migaa housing project, a live-in-golf community in Kiambu County.
During the recently constituted company’s annual general meeting, shareholders resolved to establish a Sh10 billion development fund to build the planned real estate projects.
HomeAfrika recently listed on the newly created Growth Enterprise Market Segment of the NSE. The firm plans to raise more capital through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) and other avenues available in the capital markets.
REITs, gazetted by the State last year, are publicly traded entities for contractors or investors in the property sector. They are exempted from corporate taxes. Company Chairman Lee Karuri said the planned real estate development requires huge amounts of capital.
He said during a media breakfast in a Nairobi hotel yesterday that the need for huge funding has prompted the company to explore all funding avenues at its disposal. The firm on Wednesday picked NIC Capital as its transaction advisor for the REITS project.
Regional expansion
“We are in consultation with our investment bankers, legal advisors and other stakeholders on the creation of two REITs that will accelerate our expansion into Africa,” said Karuri.
“One will be a development REIT, comprising various HomeAfrika projects, to be listed on the NSE,” he said. “It will be undertaken immediately and the other will be an investment REITS probably in the next five years.”
Karuri said the firm is further executing a property development strategy targeting the whole of Africa and all the 47 counties.
Some of the property development projects earmarked for development include the Lake View Heights in Kisumu County, Llango in Kwale County and a 1,000-acre project dubbed Kikwetu in Machakos County.
