Johannesburg - Rebosis Property Fund on Tuesday became the first black-managed and black-held property fund to list on the JSE.
"We are proud to be making our debut on the JSE this morning and welcome all new shareholders," CEO Sisa Ngebulana told the briefing that took place prior to the listing.
"Access to capital markets allows us to selectively assess acquisitive opportunities to add to our high quality office and retail portfolio.
"Our focus post listing will be to continue growing the portfolio and delivering superior shareholder returns," he said.
The linked units of the company were listed in the real estate holdings and development sector of the JSE's main board.
The listing was in conjunction with an initial offer of linked units by way of a private placement with institutional investors, selected private investors and limited retail investors.
A total of 165 851 703 linked units were placed at R10 per linked unit, raising R1.66bn.
The company said the offer was oversubscribed.
"These linked units were taken up by leading local institutions and private client businesses."
Rebosis added that Rand Merchant Bank and Java Captial were the corporate advisers and book runners for the offer.
Ngebulana said that the listing offered investors an initial forward yield of 8.6% - calculated for the 12 months to May 31 2012 - on its linked units.
"Forecast growth in distributions is about 12% in 2012, representing a forecast return considerably in excess of expected averages in the real estate sector."
Rebosis's current office rental portfolio consists of five buildings in nodes attractive to government tenants - four in Pretoria and one in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
These are mainly let to the department of public works under long leases providing for escalations of 8% or more per year.
At 10am on Tuesday the company's shares were trading at R10.35.