In its latest move and through its Pretoria-based subsidiary, MidCity, Tilca acquired Yellow Button, the property management business of listed property group Jigsaw Holdings.

The acquisition boosts the value of properties, both residential and commercial, that are under MidCity's management to about R4bn.

This makes the group the largest property manager in Pretoria and a major player on the national scale. Tilca assumes ownership of the Pretoria and Cape Town Yellow Button operations.

Jigsaw is letting loose Yellow Button after it failed to make good business from it.

Yellow Button was born about two years ago out of a merger between Executive Realty Management and EG Chapman Property Management Services. Reports from Jigsaw suggested that the merger did not work.

Jigsaw released statements saying the consolidation of the two operations proved more difficult than expected both in terms of culture and integration of systems.

A management shakeup in Jigsaw saw the company revisiting its strategic direction, and a decision to let go of the property management services has been taken. This resulted in placing Yellow Button on the market.

MidCity opted to take only the Pretoria and Cape Town operations of Yellow Button. MidCity MD Dawie de Villiers says a due diligence process assured them that the Pretoria and Cape Town offices of Yellow Button were a good buy.

Jigsaw's chief financial officer, Barnard Veale, says the group is pursuing opportunities to dispose of the remaining property management operations.

Business Day