It will list as a Retail REIT on the main board before the end of March 2014.
Founded in 2000‚ Safari Investments is one of a few property groups with sizeable investments in South Africa's townships.
Various investors and analysts have recently expressed a desire to invest in larger funds and have also forecast large-scale consolidation in the listed property sector as small funds chase capital.
With Safari Investments listing with assets of more than R1bn‚ the property company would enter the market as a medium-sized fund.
The listing of the shares will be implemented together with a capital raising of about R300m to R400m‚ through the private placement of new ordinary shares in Safari with selected eligible investors.
The net proceeds of the offer will be used to settle all debt and free up existing facilities of approximately R600m that will support the company's project pipeline.
Safari predominantly owns and develops shopping malls in township areas. It owns seven properties and has been predominantly focused on Mamelodi‚ in the north-east of Pretoria.
"We saw an opportunity in 2000 to develop malls for people in Mamelodi. We then expanded a bit but Mamelodi remained our centre. We have reached a point where we are looking to list to grow our developments further‚" chief executive Francois Marais said.
He said that because of the book build‚ he could not yet give an indication of the yield which it would offer investors.
Safari's property portfolio consists of four strategically located retail properties independently valued at about R1.3bn with a total gross lettable area of some 125‚000m².
The property portfolio is 100% retail based and focuses on nodes in Mamelodi‚ Atteridgeville and Sebokeng where Safari has spent about R40m on revamps over the past three years.
The fourth centre is in Heidelberg and is the latest addition to the portfolio. Safari has also developed a new regional destination centre in the Namibian town of Swakopmund.
Based on demand and commitments from national tenants‚ Safari is adding some 45‚000m² of retail space by way of further developments in Atteridgeville and Sebokeng‚ and the greenfield development in Namibia.
Safari has appointed DEA-RU Proprietary as lead adviser and bookrunner of the proposed offer of ordinary shares and PSG Capital as its sponsor.
Alternative Real Estate Manager Maurice Shapiro said that the market had appetite for new sizeable listings.
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