South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has acquired a 13% stake in real estate firm Aradei Capital.

Aradei Capital said PIC, which invests on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund, has invested $50m (€45.6m) to buy a mixture of new shares and a partial block-sale of shares held by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Headquartered in Morocco, Aradei Capital has a presence in 15 cities across the country.

PIC joins other Aradei Capital shareholders, which include the EBRD, Label’Vie, SANAM Holding and Best Financière.

Nawfal Bendefa, CEO of Aradei Capital, said: “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.”

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