Vukile nets R1.1bn for acquisitions

The capital raising had been set at R750m but it was oversubscribed, even after being extended to R1.1bn.

Image credit: http://www.nonesimall.com/

The money will be used for the acquisition of the 28,000m² Nonesi Mall in the Eastern Cape's Queenstown and Synergy Income Fund's external management company, Capital Land Asset Management.

Nonesi Mall includes a 96% national retailer component with anchor tenants Game, Checkers, Pick n Pay and Woolworths.

Capital Land Asset Management manages the Synergy Income Fund's property portfolio. Vukile acquired a controlling stake in Synergy, which owns malls, last month.

Vukile CEO Laurence Rapp said he wanted to add more retail assets to the Vukile portfolio, which he effectively did through gaining the stake in Synergy.

Ma'alot Investments portfolio manager Maurice Shapiro said sizeable listed property funds were managing to raise capital "quite easily".

"Pension funds and other institutions are recognising listed property as a separate and attractive asset class.

"I'd say the top 10 funds or so by size are managing to get support because investors are keen to invest in listed property, and these funds are liquid enough to justify that.

"They pay regular income payouts and the sector as a whole is performing well," Shapiro said.

Stanlib's head of listed property funds, Keillen Ndlovu, said investors were taking a longer-term view on the listed property sector.

"Despite the strong returns and valuations that appear to be full, the appetite for local listed property remains good - investors are taking a longer-term mind-set and listed property has firmly established itself as a separate asset class," Ndlovu said.

Year to date, the South African property index has achieved an impressive 14.7% in returns, compared with the 10.2% achieved by the JSE all share index.