Johannesburg- and Bermuda-listed Stenprop has announced plans to convert to the tax-efficient UK REIT status as part of plans to refocus on the UK multi-let industrial sector.

julian carey 2

Julian Carey 2

In a statement on Tuesday, Stenprop said that the company is seeking to move its listing in Bermuda to the specialist fund segment of the London stock exchange while it plans to retain its primary listing on the Johannesburg stock market.

The London listing is expected to take place in the latter half of June 2018.

In addition, the company has also appointed three new members to its board with effect from 1 May 2018. It has named group property director Julian Carey (pictured) as executive property director, while Richard Grant has been named non-executive chairman and Philip Holland as non-executive director.

Strategic transition
At the same time, Stephen Ball, who has served on the board since October 2014, has stepped down as non-executive chairman, and Neil Marais, who has served on the board since October 2014, has resigned as a director.

Paul Arenson, CEO of Stenprop, commented: 'We are making excellent progress in the strategic transition to the multi-let industrial sector and the proposed listing of the company in London in June, which will give us the potential to fulfil our objective of delivering sustainable growth in earnings and distributions to our shareholders.'

Stenprop's portfolio currently consists of several asset types in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. The company announced last year that it planned to become 'the leading multi-let industrial business in the UK'. It plans to sell around £380 mln (€432 mln) of non strategic assets over the next two years and refocus on multi-let industrial assets which currently make up for 20% of its portfolio.