Wiese’s Texton fund buys another UK property

By Charlotte Mathews

Texton Property Fund‚ in which retail tycoon Christo Wiese is a major shareholder‚ has made its second acquisition in a month with the £9.85m purchase of a retail park in Camborne‚ UK.

The deal‚ at an acquisition yield of 6.40%‚ follows less than three weeks after Texton bought a Doncaster warehouse for £17m‚ occupied by DHL. It further diversifies Texton’s portfolio‚ which is located in SA and the UK.

Camborne Retail Park is exclusively let to B&Q plc‚ a DIY and home improvement retail group. Texton said the deal complemented its existing portfolio‚ providing a prime retail property in a busy market town‚ let to a blue-chip tenant with another 12 years to run on a 25-year lease‚ and further diversifies Texton’s portfolio.

The seller of the property is London and Metric Property plc. Camborne Retail Park consists of a 1.624ha warehouse with 484 parking bays‚ generating net annual income of £631‚200 or R14.4m at current exchange rates.

Texton said it would fund the purchase from existing cash resources‚ using a currency swap. Initially no external borrowings would be needed.

Texton shares were unchanged at 945c on the JSE‚ having climbed steeply from 780c on the news of the Doncaster acquisition on December 10. Mr Wiese’s Luna Group holds about 17% of Texton and his eldest son Jacob is a non-executive director of the company.

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