December 6 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian real estate investment trust (REIT) Prime Property BG is considering listing on a foreign stock exchange to increase its capital and raise liquidity, the company’s executive director said on Thursday.
“We are considering that. It is normal for a company that has 75% foreign investors to be listed on a foreign stock exchange,” Borislav Stoyanov told SeeNews.
Among the REIT’s shareholders are Austrian Immoeast Immobilien Anlagen AG, IBM Personal Pension Plan Trust, Honda US Companies Master Retirement Group and Bulgarian insurer Bulstrad, part of Austrian insurance group Wiener Staedtische.
The REIT’s shares are currently traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
Stoyanov said Prime Property BG will decide whether to float its shares on a stock exchange abroad after comparing the possible benefits to the relatively higher costs.
“An advantage is that the company’s liquidity will be increased and more people could invest [in the company],” Stoyanov said. He added possible choices included, but were not limited to, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange and Euronext.
Stoyanov did not say when a decision is expected to be taken.
Prime Property BG expects to invest over 100 million euro ($145.5 million) in various real estate developments in the capital Sofia and on the Black Sea coast within three to four years, Stoyanov said.
Company stocks traded at 1.57 levs at 1122 GMT, up 0.6% from the previous close.
($ = 0.6876 euro)