The R2bn mark is considered an important milestone in the listed property sector of the JSE Securities Exchange SA, which has been infested by smaller and illiquid property funds.
Growth of the asset base to critical levels such as R2bn is used as a tool to draw the attention of investors, especially fund managers who have shunned the listed property sector.
ApexHi MD Brian Azizollahoff said yesterday that the latest transactions brought the group closer to its medium-term goal of growing its portfolio to R2,5bn before the end of this year. 'We are confident that we will realise our objective as we are already working on another major acquisition,' said Azizollahoff.
The latest acquisitions left the ApexHi total portfolio consisting of 209 high-yielding buildings, with a projected net income of R250m a year and a total gross lettable area of 1,4-million m².
The latest acquisitions include six Port Elizabeth properties: TradunaMall, Fidelity Centre, Edufin, SAI Automotive, ABSA Community Service Centre and ABSA/Jet in Port Elizabeth.
The group also acquired Capital Centre in Maritzburg, and in Johannesburg it bought Education Centre, NBS Building, Innes Chambers, 37 Sauer Street and Matlotlo House. It acquired Combined Motor Holdings in Kempton Park, I-Talk House in Durban, Standard Bank Centre in Pretoria, and Parliament Towers in Cape Town.
Azizollahoff said the new acquisitions were all high-yielding properties, with good lease profiles.
The buildings have A-grade tenants, including the SA government, several national retailers and financial services institutions.
In the six months ended December, ApexHi acquired a total of 39 properties across the office, retail and industrial sectors.
The group's portfolio grew from about R1,6bn in June last year to the R2,1bn announced yesterday.
The sectorial split of ApexHi portfolio reflects about 60% exposure to office property, and the remaining 40% is shared by retail and industrial.
The group invests in not so popular areas including the Johannesburg central business district.
ApexHi's share price closed 1c weaker yesterday at 724c on the JSE Securities Exchange SA.
