Investors seeking to exit a Sh4.8 billion real estate fund by Two Rivers International Financial and Innovation Centre (Trific) will be bought out by the company, marking a sweetener for financiers by curbing the risks of illiquidity.
Illiquidity occurs when an asset cannot be quickly converted into cash without a significant loss in value.
Trific and Nabo Capital have partnered to set up a fund for the buyout of those leaving the dollar-denominated Income Real Estate Investment Trust (I-Reit), which would limit illiquidity risks by ensuring investors quickly sell their assets without suffering significant loss in value, especially where there are no willing buyers.
According to the parent firm of Trific, Centum Investments Plc, the fund has been capitalised to the tune of Sh517.8 million ($ 4 million), which will provide immediate counter-party availability to match any small-ticket exits by investors.
“There’s certainly liquidity risk and sometimes an investor fears getting stuck with an asset. We have created a liquidity fund with the I-Reit manager, which acts as a market maker such that once an investor offers their units for sale and they do not get a buyer; the role of this fund will be to buy back those units,” Centum Investment CEO, James Mworia, told the Business Daily.
The Sh4.8 billion instrument is Kenya’s second US dollar-denominated I-Reit, coming two months after Africa Logistics Properties raised Sh4.5 billion ($34.6 million) through a restricted Industrial Property Reit.
Centum Investment says its experience in executing the company’s share buyback has played a crucial role in designing the liquidity fund that accompanies the Trific I-Reit.
Centum’s share buyback plan closed on March 31, with a total of 10.83 million shares having been repurchased.
Some 10.6 million shares were repurchased in the first buyback between February 2023 and September 2024 and 150,800 repurchased between October 2024 and March 2026.
“Because the I-Reit manager is also the one doing investor relations, they will have units to sell, post-buying back from those seeking an exit, to any prospective investors they engage with. We experienced this when we did the share buyback for Centum,” Mr Mworia said.
Trific said one does not need a lot of money to be a market maker.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, hard currency deposits in Kenya’s banking system closed at Sh1.36 trillion in March, having grown from Sh1.24 trillion in March 2025.
“The dollar deposits held by what we would call retail depositors in banking runs into the billions. These are people earning a meager two to three percent on their deposits,” Mr Mworia said.
“We thought of giving these people an opportunity of unlocking a higher return. It made sense for the Reit to not only target institutional but also retail investors.”
The Trific I-Reit targets a minimum investment of Sh129,463 ($1,000), with the offer having opened on May 13 and slated to close on June 12, 2026.
