Pivotal property deal spurs listing

By Alistair Anderson

Pivotal Property Fund‚ which specialises in prime office space‚ plans to list on the JSE before the end of the year‚ becoming the latest company to join the R300bn listed property sector.

While there has been a great deal of consolidation in the sector over the past year‚ it has not stopped new listings from coming to market. Between June last year and June this year‚ there have been seven new listings.

Pivotal‚ whose primary asset is Sandton’s Alice Lane Offices‚ plans to list with a R9bn property portfolio. The Alice Lane Offices property includes blue-chip tenants Virgin Active and Standard Bank.

Pivotal announced on Wednesday it had paid Standard R1.5bn for the 70% of Alice Lane which it did not already own. The group is now the sole owner of the property.

“Pivotal has acquired strategic land and property assets from Standard Bank‚ which will be valued at more than R3.5bn when fully developed.

“This major deal moves us closer to our goal of listing on the JSE’s main board with a portfolio in excess of R9bn‚” Pivotal Property Fund MD Jackie van Niekerk said on Wednesday.

Pivotal was established in 2005 by property developer Abland and its partners‚ for property developments and strategic pipeline acquisitions.

Peter Clark‚ an analyst at Investec Asset Management‚ said Pivotal’s relationship with Abland was important.

“Pivotal’s association with Abland as one of the top developers does create an attractive source of pipeline going forward‚” he said.

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