WestProp takes investor hunt to London

BUSINESS REPORTER

Real estate developer WestProp is taking its capital raising initiative to London as it seeks to mobilise US$30m to speed up its pipeline projects.

The company, whose initial public offering (IPO) is closing on Friday, will see the company offering 1m ordinary shares at US$10 each and 5.4m preference shares at US$5 per share.

WestProp will list on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange on April 29.

The IPO is the biggest on the dollar-denominated bourse since it began operations in
2020.

WestProp CEO Ken Sharpe will make a pitch on the company at the Zimbabwe Capital Markets Conference in London, which begins today.

The two-day conference will bring together a number of Zimbabwean companies and corporate leaders from home and the diaspora on how to mobilise private capital to finance domestic development.

Sharpe will today make a presentation on WestProp, which is a headline sponsor to the conference.
In a prospectus released last month, WestProp said it required additional resources to supplement the pre-sales of pipeline developments.

“This will minimise project risks associated with cost escalations and will resultantly have a positive impact on the issuer’s profitability and a higher return on investment for providers of capital,” it said.

WestProp’s pipeline projects include Millennium Heights in which it would sink US$2.125m on Block 4, which is to commence construction this year. It also requires US$500,000 for amenities at Pokugara Residential Estate.

WestProp wants to develop Millennium Office Park which will see the construction of six office blocks with a total gross leasable area of circa 20 000sqm and has commenced the first block of 5500 sq meters for which US$2m is required.

The real estate developer targets an initial US$10m to commence construction on the first phase of Mall of Zimbabwe, anticipated to be the largest single retail shopping mall investment in Zimbabwe.

WestProp says it requires US$4m for bulk infrastructure services for the second and third phases at Pomona City for Phase 2 & 3.

It has set aside a budget of US$10m for Warren Hills Golf Estate. The Estate will encompass a 5-star luxury hotel and conference centre, retail shops, office park, club house facilities for the enhanced/upgraded golf course and an exclusive residential estate of modern contemporary style villas, luxury apartments, townhouses and an attached retirement section with health and medical facilities.

The project will start with the residential estate.
It wishes to provide US$1m for the development of a 60-ha eco-park village to incorporate weirs and active and passive recreational amenities including sitting areas, running and cycling tracks.

WestProp said it was going public to “provide a quality investment alternative to domestic and international property investors, anchored on a balanced portfolio with access to developmental profits as well as property management fees and rental incomes.

It said proceeds from the initial public offering would help contribute to the increase in Zimbabwe’s housing stock and therefore reducing the country’s housing deficit and also contribute to the face-lifting of Zimbabwe’s urban landscape through the development of modern and state of the art residential and commercial real estate.

It said the listing would strengthen and diversify the company’s capital structure and give an opportunity to increase the issuer’s brand equity by enhancing its profile and prestige as a listed company.

WestProp said it was listing on the VFEX, as it was an opportunity to provide investors with securities that enjoy favourable exchange controls, lower taxation and transaction costs on a securities exchange that is in a Special Economic Zone.

It said listing on the dollar-denominated bourse would give access to a wider range of financing options for future growth such as issue of additional equity, preference shares, enhanced credit rating with banks and lending institutions and the opportunity to issue corporate bonds through the capital markets.

Sharpe the trail blazing award winning CEO said: “We are bringing Dubai to Zimbabwe with our luxury lifestyle communities and the time is now to invest in WestProp and get your share as we are building Zimbabwe’s future and developing the country with our 1 billion brick Vision by 2050.”