Delta to list property fund on JSE

Chief executive Sandile Nomvete said on Monday that over the past four years the fund had grown into a serious contender in the property sector by concentrating on core competencies such as an ability to refurbish buildings to high-grade specifications and identifying scarce prime properties in nodes attractive to the government.

"The proposed listing is an exciting step forward for Delta. Our portfolio will offer investors stable‚ resilient cash flows and value creation potential. Management has a long-term view on the business and will manage it for capital growth and the delivery of superior shareholder returns‚" Nomvete said.

On listing‚ Delta‚ a black-managed and substantially black-owned property loan stock company established in March 2005‚ would own a portfolio of 20 established‚ mainly AAA to B grade office buildings across the country.

The portfolio comprises a total gross lettable area of 203‚261 square metres‚ comprising 92% office space and 8% retail.

The occupancy rate is 95.2%.

Nomvete said the fund's success had been due to its ability to strategically identify and secure government and South African Revenue Services leased properties‚ with the aim of out-performing the market within the context of global market volatility.

He said the fund's broad-based black economic empowerment credentials positioned it well to leverage the advantages of government-tenanted buildings‚ such as single tenant occupancy‚ long-term leases and fixed lease escalations for the duration of the loan.

The fund is externally managed by a 100% black-owned asset manager‚ qualifying it for long-term government leases in terms of the provisions of the Department of Public Works.

Nedbank Capital has been appointed as the corporate advisor and sponsor‚ with KPMG as the independent sponsor to the fund.