KARACHI: Pakistan’s TPL Properties has joined hands with UAE’s Equitativa to fuel investments in the country’s realty sector, officials said on Wednesday.
By forming the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) Management Company (RMC), the two firms also hope to provide an opportunity to institutional and retail investors to participate in this new asset class, a statement released on Wednesday read.
After signing the agreement, Sylvain Vieujot, Group Chairman of Equitativa, said: “The idea to expand into emerging markets with REITs allows unique investment opportunities and delivers competitive total returns based on steady dividend income and long-term capital appreciation.”
The deal, signed in Dubai with Equitativa, will arm TPL Properties with a deep industrial know-how and a long track record of establishing and managing successful REITs, which are listed on the stock exchange.
As a leading regional asset management company, Equitativa is the manager of the largest Shariah-compliant REIT in the world, namely Emirates REIT, which is listed on NASDAQ Dubai.
Ali Jameel, CEO of TPL Properties, said that “this latest strategic alliance further supports the company’s investment strategy and diversifies TPL’s property mix by adding a realty fund model.”
“We believe this will enable Pakistan’s realty and capital market to further develop and encourage more REITs to be formed, attracting more local and foreign investment in this sector,” he added.
The company has been incorporated and is expected to launch its operations this year. “We are expecting to launch the first REIT Fund within 2019,” Ali Asghar, Chief Operating Officer of TPL Properties, told Arab News.
Without sharing the details of shareholding, he said that “Equitativa would be the majority shareholder.”
Currently, Equitativa has about $2 billion worth of assets under management AUM in the UAE. Equitativa was the first company to establish a REIT in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and in the UAE and is currently the largest REIT Manager in the GCC countries.
Incorporated in 2007 and listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in 2016, TPL Properties invests, purchases, develops, and builds real estate. TPLP also sells and rents commercial and residential properties. The company develops properties that feature sophisticated sustainable designs, efficient floor plans and first-class amenities for optimum value in functionality, location and cost.
The agreement marks the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in this sector after the regulations have been amended.
Pakistan is currently exploring avenues to attract more FDI into the country. Though it is expecting around $40 billion investment within the next five years, the current trend has not been very encouraging since the FDI has declined by 19.2 percent during the six months of the current fiscal year (FY19).
During the period of July to December of FY19, the country received $1.32 billion worth of FDI as compared to $1.63 billion received during the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday.
UAE’s Equitativa joins hand with TPL Properties in Pakistan
UAE’s Equitativa joins hand with TPL Properties in Pakistan
- Move to provide investors with an opportunity to participate in new asset class
- Expected to launch the first REIT fund this year, top official says
At least one killed, nine injured in IED blast in northwestern Pakistan
- Blast takes place near vehicle carrying employees of Lucky Cement factory in Lakki Marwat district, say police
- No group has claimed responsibility for IED blast as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police launch probe into the incident
PESHAWAR: At least one person was killed and nine others were injured in Pakistan’s northwestern Lakki Marwat district on Monday after an improvised explosive device (IED) blast occurred near a vehicle transporting employees of a cement factory, a police official said.
Lakki Marwat police official Shahid Marwat told Arab News the blast took place on the district’s Begu Khel Road at around 6:30 a.m. The explosion occurred near a vehicle carrying employees of the Lucky Cement factory located in the district, he said.
“Initial investigations suggest the device had been planted by militants,” Marwat said. “A rapid police response force was immediately deployed to the scene to evacuate the dead and wounded, secure the area and collect evidence.”
The police officer said several victims were in critical condition and were referred for treatment to the nearby Bannu district, adding that all those affected by the blast were residents of Begu Khel village.
He said police had launched an investigation into the incident.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past against Pakistani law enforcers and civilians in the province.
The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani law enforcers since 2008 in its bid to impose its own brand of strict Islamic law across the country.
The attack comes as Pakistan struggles to contain a sharp surge in militant violence in recent months. According to statistics released last month by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), combat-related deaths in 2025 rose by 73 percent to 3,387, compared with 1,950 deaths in 2024.
These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians, and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said. Most of the attacks took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Pashtun-majority districts and southwestern Balochistan province, the PICSS noted.
On Sunday, three traffic police officials were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Lakki Marwat district. No group claimed responsibility for the incident.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan government of harboring militants who launch attacks against Pakistan, a charge Kabul repeatedly denies. The surge in militant attacks in Pakistan has strained ties between the two neighbors, with Islamabad urging Kabul to take steps to dismantle militant outfits allegedly operating from its soil.
