GTC Group (“GTC”), a commercial real estate company operating in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe since 1994, has announced that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited (“JSE”) has approved its inward listing on the bourse’s main board. GTC is an owner and developer of primarily Class A office and retail properties located in Poland and capital cities throughout the CEE and SEE region.
GTC, which owns and develops retail and office properties in Poland and capital cities throughout the central Europe (CEE), as well as the south-east Europe (SEE), will be the first Polish inward-listed company on the JSE.
This will be the company’s second listing, as its primary listing is on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
CEO Thomas Kurzman said that the company’s balanced portfolio of €1.3 billion offers an attractive “total return” proposition for South African investors interested in high-quality assets in Poland and the capitals of high-growth CEE and SEE countries.
“Our listing on the JSE is a step in enabling our strategy to significantly increase our portfolio to over €2 billion, within 36 months, through value-enhancing acquisitions, development activities and asset-value improvements,” he said.
The JSE has granted the GTC a secondary inward listing of up to 460.22 million shares on the real estate holding and development sector.
Kurzman noted that, although the property group was not raising capital from South African investors on this occasion, it believed that the inward listing would increase the liquidity and tradability of its shares. “We will continue to actively manage our current and future income-generating commercial property portfolio to increase operating performance, efficiently diversify tenant risk and enhance rental income, while developing selected unique, high-quality projects.”
The group has operates in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria; it also conducts operations in the Czech Republic through its associates.
The portfolio is valued at €1.3 billion as at 31 December 2015 and generates approximately €84 million in annual net operating income.
In addition to the current portfolio of income generating assets, GTC is currently developing three projects totaling 82,000 m² of retail and office space in Warsaw and Belgrade. The company is currently considering another four commercial projects with the commencement of construction planned for 2016/2017.
