Liberty Group on Tuesday successfully unbundled and listed a portion of its property portfolio on the JSE’s main board as real estate investment trust (Reit) Liberty Two Degrees (L2D), raising some R3.8-billion.

The Amelia Beattie-led Reit raised R3-billion at listing price from invited investors and R780-million from Liberty Group, which enabled its policyholders to leverage a 5% discount to the subscription price.

The capital raised would enable Liberty to expand and enhance its existing portfolio of property assets and unlock the portfolio to investors outside its base of policyholders, Liberty Holdings group CEO Thabo Dloti explained.

Borne out of what was described as collaborative effort between Liberty and Stanlib, the move would enable expanded investment and growth for the portfolio, which included interests in assets such as the Sandton City Complex, the Eastgate Complex, Nelson Mandela Square and Melrose Arch, he added.

L2D also holds an interest in two regional shopping centres, namely Liberty Midlands Mall, in KwaZulu-Natal, and Liberty Promenade, in Mitchells Plain, in the Western Cape, along with the newly developed Botshabelo Mall, near Bloemfontein, and the John Ross Eco-Junction – Melomed development, which provided diversification and higher yield opportunities.

“The Reit has a substantial pipeline of investment opportunities and new developments to grow the portfolio within South Africa and invest in select properties in growing sub-Saharan African countries,” said Beattie.

However, with tremendous redevelopment and renovation undertaken on the portfolio in recent times, Dloti noted that L2D was focusing on acquiring additional assets.

L2D, with acquisitive growth in its sights, is in advanced discussions with an undisclosed party for the acquisition, through the listing proceeds and units, of an “iconic” property.

In its prelisting statement, L2D explained that substantial capital, upwards of R2.5-billion, had been invested over the past five years on developments and redevelopments, including that of the Botshabelo Mall, the Sandton City Complex, the Eastgate Complex, John Ross Eco-Junction – Melomed Hospital and Nelson Mandela Square.

The expansion of Liberty Midlands Mall commenced earlier this year.

L2D will be ungeared on listing and will be able to take on debt to fund future high-quality acquisitions.

The listing of L2D brought the number of listed property sector companies on the JSE to 63 in total, with the company the fifty-second to list on the main board, commented JSE capital markets director Donna Nemer of the seventeenth listing in 2016.