In the first deal of its kind, listed property loan stock company Pangbourne Properties, has acquired 48 industrial, commercial and retail properties from the Transnet Retirement Funds Property Trust (TRFPT) for R1,4bn.
The deal is expected to double Pangbourne’s market cap to R2,8bn. Pangbourne consummated the deal in collaboration with its empowerment partner Yard Capital. Payment will be R702m cash plus 33,46m new Pangbourne units, 18,9m iFour Properties linked units and at least 30m Siyathenga linked units.
The portfolio includes a number of shopping centre developments, which are more suited to Pangbourne’s specialist retail arm, Siyathenga. Subject to certain conditions, these will be on-sold to Siyathenga.
Some of the properties in the portfolio include: the N1 Value Centre in Goodwood, Jan Smuts Industrial Park and the Board Walk at Richards Bay. Pangbourne/Siyathenga will expand this centre.
Said Pangbourne CEO Craig Hutchison: “The transaction increases our market cap to R2,8bn which places the company on the radar screens of a much wider base of institutional investors and improves tradability.
The portfolio is yield-enhancing and reduces the average age of our existing portfolio by the acquisition of well-located properties that are less than ten years old.
This puts us in to a highly advantageous position in the current industrial property boom in which there is a shortage of this type of quality properties.”
Cheryl Wendelken, an executive at Transnet Pension Fund Administrators, said “After a lengthy and thorough process in which we evaluated all the listed property funds with the assistance of an external independent property expert, the Trustees agreed to transact with Pangbourne and its associates as it fulfilled their pre-determined criteria.”
Hutchison adds: “We offered them an innovative solution which few of our competitors would have been able to match addressing their current income liabilities through a cash component and their future income requirements through an equity component consisting of Pangbourne, Siyathenga and iFour shares.”
Leslie Maasdorp, chairman of Yard Capital, said: “Through this deal, Pangbourne and Yard are proactively increasing capacity building and skills transfer as envisaged in the charter.
“The R125m (6,1%) stake we acquired in Pangbourne two months ago represents the first phase of the empowerment strategy of the company.”
