Court confirms auction of Kyalami

According to court papers, 11 applicants who contended that they had certain rights in and to the Kyalami Race Track, applied to have the auction halted. In terms of the court ruling released on 15 July, these claims and onerous obligations were either waived by agreement or abandoned allowing for the public auction to proceed unhindered.

Salient rulings of the court order include, inter alia:

• The public auction of Kyalami will proceed as planned at 12:00 on 24 July at Summer Place in Hyde Park, Johannesburg;
  
• A revised reserve price of R200m has been set;
  
• At least five court applications affecting the property involving "lease action", "eviction action", "pre-emptive right applications" and "action for fruits and damages for unlawful holding over" have been withdrawn, settled or abandoned;
  
• The alleged third party development rights, rights to purchase, right to income stream, right to occupy and any other steps that would have the effect of frustrating the property from being transferred or the purchaser obtaining vacant and unfettered possession were irrevocably waived and abandoned.

"We are extremely pleased with these developments as it provides us with an unemcumbered asset for sale resulting in a significant upside to the new investors in Kyalami who may be interested in continuing to operate this valuable racing circuit or further development of the property," says Chalwin-Milton. "And now that the uncertainty surrounding the terms of purchase of the Kyalami property has been dealt with, finally, we can proceed with confidence and mitigate several potential risks for the successful buyer."

According to High Steet Auctions, they have received significant domestic and international interest in the 72 ha property featuring the iconic SA race track. Due to the interest that has been garnered and the large number of registered (auction) bidders for the property they believe that the increased reserve price of R200m will be achieved.

Chalwin-Milton said that in addition to the auction of the iconic race track at Kyalami, the advertised auction of 24 other commercial, industrial and retail properties scheduled for the event at Summer Place will also still go ahead as planned. Details of these properties are available at www.highstreetauctions.com.