BUSINESS REPORTER
Real estate developer WestProp Holdings Limited will target pension funds and Zimbabweans living abroad when it comes back to the market with a second round of preference shares.
Trading in the company’s shares began on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) on Monday following its listing last week.
WestProp was supposed to list its preference shares but could not do so after an initial public offering was under subscribed, raising US$3.3m out of the targeted US$30m.
The real estate developer agreed with the exchange not to proceed with that listing until such a time the market is ready to take up the full offering.
WestProp CEO Ken Sharpe said the offering was under subscribed largely because the pension funds did not invest after the prescribed asset status came after the offering had closed.
“They are the ones that have the majority of the money to invest in stock market. I think we have to go back to the pension funds,” Sharpe said.
He said the company has to go back to the drawing board and “make sure the second time we come, we are better prepared and that requires the right timing”.
“I am not sure exactly when that will be, it will be the next month, or the next six months, but definitely inside this year we want to come back,” the executive said.
Sharpe said the company believes there is more wealth in the hands of individuals hence the need to target Zimbabweans living outside the country.
“If you take just the diaspora there are 3 to 5 million people. If they invest US$1000 each, it produces US$5bn. There is no institution in Zimbabwe that has US$5bn today. The Zimbabwean diaspora are the ones that can invest back into the country,” he said, adding there should be concerted efforts to lure the diaspora market to invest on all the 12 counters listed on the VFEX.
The property tycoon said the company would embark on an awareness to allow individuals to buy shares and that WestProp would ensure there is ease of transacting.
He said the 21 days WestProp had given investors to buy the preference shares was too short and in hindsight the company would have left the “tap open, which means the offering would have been kept open until it is fully subscribed”
The executive said WestProp would have preferred to have the prescribed asset status before opening the offering.
“Those things are easy when looking in hindsight. Fortunately, we have them in hand,” Sharpe said.
He said being listed was the main objective to give access to the people to buy shares and to take ownership of the company together with us.
“We have achieved that. We have been successful in our initial goal to become listed. Now that we have the experience that we had in terms of how to raise capital, we will come back to the market better prepared. Fortunately, we didn’t need the capital to start a business but to continue the business,” Sharpe said.
WestProp board chairman Michael Louis said the pension funds and the VFEX “love the product”.
“Now what he [Sharpe] is talking about is the timing, preparing. We should have given it more time. Retrospectively, that is what we would have done. We are sitting comfortably that it will happen,” Louis said.
