GRIT eyes London Stock Exchange listing

By Suren Naidoo

South African founded GRIT Real Estate – which is headquartered in Mauritius and listed on both the JSE and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) – is eyeing a premium listing on the main board of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The Africa focused fund, which offers international property investors access to high growth opportunities in thriving African economies outside of South Africa, announced its plans on Friday for a listing in London, the world’s third largest stock exchange.

GRIT CEO, Bronwyn Corbett, commented: “London is very much the hotbed for international emerging and frontier market investors, but their focus has shifted away from high IRRs. What funds are looking for now is consistently performing dollar distribution yields and growth.”

The decision to explore an LSE listing comes as a result of demand from existing and potential stakeholders, the group said. “GRIT will be meeting with these stakeholders in the following weeks to discuss such a listing. The decision to proceed will be made in due course, depending on regulatory considerations, Board approval and market conditions,” it said in a statement.

GRIT said its listings on the JSE and SEM would be retained in the event that the LSE listing proceeds.

Corbett said: “GRIT’s rental income is underpinned by global tenants with an average term of almost seven-and-a-half years remaining on these dollar income leases. This, and very low vacancies across the portfolio have resulted in significant interest, which we intend to explore further.”

 * More to come on this developing story