Accelerate Property Fund lists on JSE main board
Retail-focused property group‚ Accelerate Property Fund listed today on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), in the Real Estate Holdings and Development sector.
Classified as a REIT, Accelerate is a property company formed for the purpose of investing in direct real estate, for purposes of income generation and capital growth.
It has a portfolio of 51 well-established, high-quality properties across South Africa, including ownership of two prominent regional shopping centres.
On listing the Fund has an initial portfolio independently valued at over R5.9 billion. The portfolio comprises a total Gross Lettable Area (GLA) of 440 520m² consisting of 67% retail space, 22% office space, 7% industrial, and a 4% specialised auto dealership component.
Tito Mboweni, Non-Executive Chairman, Accelerate Property Fund, said:
“As a publicly listed company, we are better positioned to execute our value creation and growth strategies. We look forward to utilising this platform to invest in well priced income producing properties to optimise capital and income returns for shareholders.”
Accelerate offers strong growth prospects and will have access to a natural pipeline of properties from the Georgiou stable. This includes an option to acquire a 50% undivided share in the Loch Logan Waterfront letting enterprise (the largest shopping centre in central South Africa) and access to the proposed 90,000m² redevelopment of the Fourways Mall.
The fund lists at a generous forward yield of 9.7% - an attractive premium to the sector's weighted average of 7.8%.
Michael Georgiou, CEO, Accelerate Property Fund said: “Listing on the JSE marks a major milestone for the company. Accelerate has extremely strong fundamentals and an exciting future ahead. We have a strong and experienced management team that is focused on realising value for shareholders and delivering on our targets. Being listed will allow us to build a stronger, more focused Accelerate business. We are aiming to consolidate our position and grow our asset base maintaining the strong bias toward the defensive retail sector.”
Units will trade under the abbreviated name “Accelerate” with JSE share code APF and ISIN ZAE000185815.