UAE’s Equitativa joins hand with TPL Properties in Pakistan

Ali Jameel, CEO TPL Properties, Sylvain Vieujot, Deputy Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Equitativa, and Racha Alkhawaja, Group Chief Distribution and Development Officer of Equitativa, pose for a photograph in Dubai. (Photo courtesy: TPL Properties)

• Move to provide investors with an opportunity to participate in new asset class
• Expected to launch the first REIT fund this year, top official says

KARACHI: Pakistan’s TPL Properties has joined hands with UAE’s Equitativa to fuel investments in the country’s realty sector, officials said on Wednesday.
By forming the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) Management Company (RMC), the two firms also hope to provide an opportunity to institutional and retail investors to participate in this new asset class, a statement released on Wednesday read.
After signing the agreement, Sylvain Vieujot, Group Chairman of Equitativa, said: “The idea to expand into emerging markets with REITs allows unique investment opportunities and delivers competitive total returns based on steady dividend income and long-term capital appreciation.”
The deal, signed in Dubai with Equitativa, will arm TPL Properties with a deep industrial know-how and a long track record of establishing and managing successful REITs, which are listed on the stock exchange.
As a leading regional asset management company, Equitativa is the manager of the largest Shariah-compliant REIT in the world, namely Emirates REIT, which is listed on NASDAQ Dubai.
Ali Jameel, CEO of TPL Properties, said that “this latest strategic alliance further supports the company’s investment strategy and diversifies TPL’s property mix by adding a realty fund model.”
“We believe this will enable Pakistan’s realty and capital market to further develop and encourage more REITs to be formed, attracting more local and foreign investment in this sector,” he added.
The company has been incorporated and is expected to launch its operations this year. “We are expecting to launch the first REIT Fund within 2019,” Ali Asghar, Chief Operating Officer of TPL Properties, told Arab News.
Without sharing the details of shareholding, he said that “Equitativa would be the majority shareholder.”
Currently, Equitativa has about $2 billion worth of assets under management AUM in the UAE. Equitativa was the first company to establish a REIT in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and in the UAE and is currently the largest REIT Manager in the GCC countries.
Incorporated in 2007 and listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in 2016, TPL Properties invests, purchases, develops, and builds real estate. TPLP also sells and rents commercial and residential properties. The company develops properties that feature sophisticated sustainable designs, efficient floor plans and first-class amenities for optimum value in functionality, location and cost.
The agreement marks the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in this sector after the regulations have been amended.
Pakistan is currently exploring avenues to attract more FDI into the country. Though it is expecting around $40 billion investment within the next five years, the current trend has not been very encouraging since the FDI has declined by 19.2 percent during the six months of the current fiscal year (FY19).
During the period of July to December of FY19, the country received $1.32 billion worth of FDI as compared to $1.63 billion received during the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday.