The Squarestone Brasil fund, set up to take the “western mall concept” over to Brazil, will be run by Tony Campbell, former deputy chief executive of ASDA, who will become chairman and James Morse, of Squarestone, who will be chief executive.

Neil Varnham, the new president of the British Council of Shopping Centres, will act as a consultant for the fund.

If successful, the launch, which aims to raise between £150 million to £250 million, will be viewed as a return to confidence in emerging market property following months of investor caution in the sector.

The move comes as UK investors are increasingly shying away from prime UK retail property, where returns have shrunk following an unexpected rally in values that was partly brought about by an extreme shortage of stock for sale. Many, such as Hammerson and Helical Bar, have begun to look for alternative opportunities abroad.

Squarestone, which intends to raise half of its cash in the US, will acquire two shopping centres in Sao Paulo on its admission to AIM, planned for March 19, and has a further three malls in the development pipeline. It will also acquire a team of property managers already based in Sao Paulo and will enter into a joint venture with BTG Pactual, the Brazilian investment bank.

A source familiar with the plans said that the idea was to “improve the lights and raise the ceilings and make Brazilian shopping centres look more like those in the US or UK”.

The launch follows a raft of property IPOs in 2009 from funds set up to invest in UK commercial property at the bottom of the market, the last being LXB Retail, which floated in October with a fundraising of £100 million.

While some of these, such as Nick Leslau’s Max Property Group, launched successfully, raising the intended amount and making a number of acquisitions, some failed to raise the amount of cash originally proposed. In June last year, NewRiver Retail said it was going to raise £250 million to invest in retail property. The plan was shelved after it failed to find support for the minimum amount. It then returned in August, raising £25 million - a tenth of its former target.