Fahari I-Reit eyes Sh850m office to raise its real estate portfolio

Kenneth Masika, Fahari chief executive officer. file photo | nmg 

By VICTOR JUMA

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Summary

• The acquisition will raise the share of its assets invested in real estate to 90 per cent, complying with rules governing its portfolio mix.
• The fund currently holds 67 per cent of its assets in property, falling below the minimum 75 per cent threshold in what saw it apply to CMA last year seeking an extension to ramp up its real estate investments.

Property fund Stanlib Fahari I-Reit’s plans to acquire an office building in Lavington, Nairobi, will raise the share of its assets invested in real estate to 90 per cent, complying with rules governing its portfolio mix.

The fund currently holds 67 per cent of its assets in property, falling below the minimum 75 per cent threshold in what saw it apply to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) last year seeking an extension to ramp up its real estate investments.

The balance of its assets is in cash and short-term fixed income instruments. The new Sh850 million acquisition was to be concluded by tomorrow (Tuesday).

Fahari’s chief executive officer, Kenneth Masika, had not responded to our queries by the time of going to press.

READ: Stanlib in deal for purchase of Sh850m office space in Nairobi

“The targeted completion date of the transactions is 1 May 2018,” Fahari says in its latest annual report.

The fund says it will use its cash holdings to fund the entire acquisition, adding that it does not intend to buy another property in the short-term.

Its cash holdings as of December stood at Sh1.2 billion.