Revitus extends REIT offering on strong demand
THE Revitus Property Opportunities Real Estate Fund has extended the subscription period of the initial public offering (IPO) for its real investment trust (REIT) to accommodate strong interest received from certain institutions.
The IPO, which was initially targeted to close on December 7, 2023, will now close on December 14, 2023, while the listing ceremony has been moved to December 18, 2023, from the initial date of December 15, 2023.
“The issuer has received strong interest from certain institutions in the final internal approval processes for participation in the Revitus offer, and to accommodate these potential investors and ensure administrative processes are completed, the offer window for the application of unit trusts in the REIT has been extended,” the REIT said in a statement.
The commencement of trading has also been moved to December 20, 2023, from the initial date of December 18, 2023.
The Revitus, the NRZ Contributory Pension Fund (NRZCPF) REIT, managed and administered by Datvest, is currently in the market to raise about $45 billion by the close of the offer.
Revitus has five of its buildings under the REIT portfolio, namely Africa House, Pioneer House, both in Bulawayo, and Atlas House, Charter House, and Electra
House, all in Harare.
A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets, for which units of an investment pool are created and sold to investors in the same way as company stock.
Datvest Asset Management Company manages the fund on behalf of the investors or unit holders, and the asset management company is 100 percent wholly owned by CBZ Holdings with an excess of $1 trillion in funds under management.
According to the Real East Investment Trust (REIT) Association of Zimbabwe, the REIT market is slowly evolving in Zimbabwe as a viable capital market instrument, and its potential market size is estimated at around US$40 billion.
In 2019, the Government gazetted a statute paving the way for the registration of various investment schemes with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SecZim), such as exchangetraded funds as well as REITs, through Statutory Instrument 240 of 2019, which was subsequently published in the Finance Act Number 2 of 2020.
The Tigere REIT pioneered the listing of REITs in the market last November, and the Revitus REIT will become the second listing.
To advance the market, the ZSE and the private sector formed the association to spearhead the development of the market.
REIT Association of Zimbabwe chairperson Dr Mike Juru said in an interview that while seven REITs have been licensed by the SecZim since the introduction of the tax incentives, only one has been listed to date, which is the ultimate stage for attaining REIT status.
“We recently had another potential REIT (Revitus), which is progressing well. REITs have immense potential to accelerate the country’s infrastructure development drive and, in the process, grow the economy through regulated investment channels and foster employment creation,” he said.
He indicated that the slow pace of listing was partly due to challenges encountered in implementing the conditions set as well as some practical challenges in putting together attractive REIT offerings for investors in the capital markets.
Dr Juru said his vision for the REITs market in Zimbabwe was a mirror of the shared national vision of achieving upper-middle-income economy status by 2030.