Centurion Mall 'overpriced'

It was expensive, especially when compared with the recent Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront transaction, he said. "They overpaid for it," said the analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, last week.

"Centurion Mall is a good asset but not at that price."

Cape Town-based listed property unit trust Fountainhead on Friday, 29 July 2011, said it had bought the stake from listed rival Hyprop Investments' Attfund Retail portfolio.

"It was a pre-emptive deal and we didn't have a choice on the price," Fountainhead MD Anton Raubenheimer said in an interview. "It was either take it or leave it," he said.

Last December, Hyprop acquired Attfund's portfolio, which included Clearwater Mall, Woodlands Boulevard and a 25% undivided share of Centurion Mall. In the circular handed to Hyprop shareholders at the time, the company said the transfer of the Centurion stake would trigger pre-emptive rights in favour of Fountainhead, which then owned 75% of Centurion Mall.

The mall has been a top- performing property of Fountainhead and "we're delighted to increase our stake in this quality asset, the likes of which rarely come onto the market", he said.

As a suburb, Centurion is growing and the mall has a strong tenant mix, Mr Raubenheimer said. "The quality of the node supports the centre well."

In February, Growthpoint Properties, SA's largest publicly traded real-estate investor, and the Public Investment Corporation bought the V&A Waterfront shopping mall for R9,7bn in SA's biggest property deal.

Despite price concerns over the deal, the analyst said the Centurion Mall was still in a good condition and in a part of Pretoria not affected by "oversupply".

Source: Business Day