Advised by Hichens Harrison, the group is hoping to raise £20 million from investors prior to listing.

Following in the footsteps of similar vehicles targeting Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Russia and Turkey, Pactolus intends to initially acquire and develop a string of residential properties in the more affluent areas of Budapest. This, management hopes, will enable the group to charge decent levels of rent, without having to develop any new buildings of its own.

To date, Pactolus has purchased and refurbished 12 properties in the Hungarian capital and three more are currently being refurbished. This has been achieved off the back of a £2.8 million fundraising (again arranged by Hichens Harrison) in February 2004.

AIM-listed property investment business Euro Capital Projects is amongst Pactolus’ existing backers.