Estonia, Financial Services, Real Estate

Arco Vara was granted a license and authorisation at the end of December, the company told the stock exchange.

The group now plans to finalize the technical preparations for listing the shares on the Sofia Stock Exchange during the first quarter of 2016 and participate in the following share capital increase through public offering of shares. The fund's effective investment activity should commence by year-end.

"With Arco REIT we want to provide an opportunity for Bulgarian capital to invest directly in Arco Vara's forthcoming big real estate developments in Sofia in the residential sector and in our previous experience in Bulgaria and our brand in this sector. Arco Vara's interest is to participate in the operation of the fund as a shareholder as well as fund manager," the management of the group said in last August.

"The focus of Arco REIT is on developments in Sofia in the volume that at the moment, taking into consideration Arco Vara's current equity capital, we are not able to carry out alone, i.e. projects which require self-financing in the amount of 5 million euros or more. Alongside Arco REIT we will continue independently with our smaller developments," the management said.

Arco Vara owns 70 Arco REIT of the shares of Arco REIT and 30 Arco REIT of the shares are owned by a local financial institution. The management company of Arco REIT is Arco Invest EOOD, a fully-owned subsidiary of the group.