Shares in Greek real estate investor Dolphin Capital Investors start trading on AIM tomorrow at 68p, following an oversubscribed placing that raised £70.7 million.

The vehicle’s investment adviser Dolphin Capital Partners was set up last year by Miltos Kambourides and Pierre Charalambides, who previously worked together at Soros Real Estate Partners, part of billionaire currency speculator George Soros’ private equity empire.

The duo plan to invest in land beside the sea in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Croatia, which has either been earmarked for residential resort development or where such development is at an early stage. The sites will aim to attract high-grade holiday home owners and incorporate such facilities as golf courses, marinas and spas.

Following the fundraising, from a host of blue chip investors, the group believes it can inject the necessary equity into six projects it has already identified to kick-start development.

Dolphin plans to sell embryonic projects onto other investors but envisages retaining interests in a third of the projects, if such a sale is not possible. In these situations the company would generate cash by selling individual residential units to high net worth individuals seeking either holiday or retirement homes. This process could take six years.

Kambourides, who was also behind the formation of property behemoths Trillium, now part of FTSE 100 Land Securities, and Mapeley, which floated on the Full List this June, believes the fundamentals are right for a boom in residential holiday property in Greece.

‘Following the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, there was a boom in developments in south-east Europe (Spain and Portugal). Soros was the biggest investor here. This phase has now reached saturation point,’ he points out.

‘However, there have been hardly any developments in south-west Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey). We aim to take advantage of the goodwill generated by last year’s Athens Olympics,’ he explains.

Dolphin could also prosper because land prices are between 30 and 50 per cent cheaper in Greece than in Spain. Dolphin aims to produce total annual returns of 25 to 45 per cent, relying on its strong network of international advisors and local property developers.

The company is also backed by US private equity giant Fortress, who invested £3.4 million this summer to create the investment subsidiary. Fortress also backed Mapeley. Panmure Gordon is broker to the flotation.