Launch Partners

Launch Partners

Lake City plans Lahore mall REIT 2026 listing

Pakistan’s Lake City plans to list in first quarter 2026 the IPO of its Shariah compliant real estate investment trust (REIT), which has the recently-completed Lake City Mall in Lahore as its sole asset. 

While the license to carry out REIT management services as a non-banking finance company was received on the 6th November 2023, The Lake City REIT Management Director Zulfiqar Alam told IFN Investor the 2026 listing will allow the property trust to establish a track record of rental income from mall tenants.  

Over the current year, Ejaz Group’s 100% stake in the REIT entity will also reduce gradually via private placements to accredited investors. 

Zulfiqar said the REIT has already drawn strong investor interest as initial projections hint at rental returns that would be higher than the typical 6-7% yield of similar offerings in Pakistan. 

“The main reason is because the mall valuation, which would usually be calculated based on prospective earnings. As this property was transferred into the REIT entity at bare cost, without any rental income factored in advance, the projected yield works out to around 12-13% per annum.” 

On why the property injection was conducted with such unconventional pricing, Zulfiqar explained it was a directive from Ejaz Group chairman Dr Gohar Ejaz that the REIT’s earnings must strictly follow Islamic principles “not only in the letter, but in the spirit as well”. 

“There is a genuine demand from the public to have avenues where they can invest in Shariah assets and get sustainable returns for their incomes.” 

Hence, Zulfiqar said the REIT will expand income streams by placing surplus funds in allowed Shariah compliant offerings like government debt securities, keep deposits with banks having a minimum ‘AA’ long-term rating or invest in Islamic money market funds. 

This financial yield aspiration is also the shared vision of the Lake City REIT project’s stakeholders, whom Zulfiqar said include some of the largest business and industrial groups of Pakistan – like Fatima Fertilizer, US Apparel, Din Group, Soorty Group, Master Group, Ghani Group and Liberty Group – with no banking entities involved. 

Located 13km outside Lahore, this mixed project derives its name from artificial lakes being constructed as the centerpiece of a 2,000-acre site to house a golf course, parks, residences, commercial facilities and a shopping mall.

Pakistan's Lake City plans to list in first quarter 2026 the IPO of its Shariah compliant real estate investment trust (REIT), which has the recently-completed Lake City Mall in Lahore as its sole asset.  While the license to carry out REIT management services as a non-banking finance company was received on the 6th November 2023, The...

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