The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), on behalf of its client, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) of South Africa, has acquired a 13% stake in Aradei Capital for $50m.

Vuyani Hako, the PIC’s acting CEO, said: “We believe that partnerships are essential for us to deliver on the Africa strategy. Aradei Capital has the necessary expertise in Morocco that will enable us to deliver on our partnership approach to investing in African property markets”.

“We are, particularly excited about future growth prospects informed by Aradei Capital’s clear and solid strategy to diversify into new asset categories and other yield generating real estate asset classes. We believe that our client, the GEPF, stands to benefit from this investment in the long run,” he added.

Aradei Capital is a real estate platform headquartered in Morocco that specializes in commercial real estate assets.

It has a presence in 15 cities across Morocco.

Through this investment, the PIC joins other reputable investors in Aradei Capital that include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Label’Vie (LBV), a food retailer and franchisee of the Carrefour brand in Morocco, SANAM Holding and Best Financière which has interests in large and medium retail properties in Morocco.

This transaction is a mixed capital increase and a partial block-sale of shares held by the EBRD.

Marie-Alexandra Veilleux-Laborie, EBRD Director for Morocco, commented: “Our investment in Aradei Capital demonstrates our strategy in promoting innovative financings and capital market development in Morocco. The EBRD supported the company’s governance and growth, which have enabled it to attract a new foreign investment with the entry of PIC as a large international institutional investor. We look forward to remaining an active shareholder and further contributing to the development of commercial real estate in the country.”

Aradei Capital aims to be a leading platform in commercial real estate in Morocco since the country recently enacted legislation that enables real estate investment trust (REIT).

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, the completion of this transaction is a testament to the strong fundamentals and growth prospect still forecasted in this segment.

“We are proud to welcome the GEPF to the shareholding and look forward to a long-term partnership” said Nawfal Bendefa, CEO of Aradei Capital.

“This capital investment is key to funding our identified pipeline and we anticipate strong growth emerging from this global COVID-19 crisis. We expect such growth will be driven by a migration to commercial real estate with higher standards” he added.