Fourlis to launch property investment company

Athens-listed Fourlis Group has discerned investment opportunities in the commercial property sector in Greece and the broader region of Southeastern Europe, and is in the process of setting up a real estate investment company (REIC).

Besides illustrating the recent activity in the property management sector after a long period of deep recession, this move constitutes a boost for the Greek stock market, since the new REIC will eventually have to be listed, according to law.

The new company, a 100 percent subsidiary of the Fourlis Group, bears the name Trade Estates, and the listed company announced yesterday that it has submitted an application for a REIC license to the Capital Market Commission. The licensing process usually takes between four and six months. Then the REIC will have to be listed on the stock market within two years of receiving its permit. Group officials told Kathimerini that the exact timing of its listing will depend on conditions at the Greek bourse.

The REIC permit application includes all the existing properties of the group that are used for the operation of local IKEA outlets, a logistics center at Schimatari and the group’s retail property investments around Greece, worth a total of some 176 million euros.