At present, the fund's market capitalisation is about R1,7bn, and the deals will entrench it as the third-largest fund in the listed property sector behind Grayprop with market capitalisation of about R2,7bn and the merged Growthpoint, which will have a market capitalisation of about R3bn.

Sycom said last week that agreements had been concluded for the acquisition of two land holdings for R36m and their development at a combined cost of R294m plus investments totalling R174m into two of its existing properties.

Sycom said these acquisitions, developments and investments would be funded by a combination of equity to be raised by unit placement and debt. Sycom MD Gerald Nelson said the fund was in a good position with low borrowings of about R19m now.

The fund said that this would not have a material effect on its earnings for the current year, but once finalised it might have an effect on the price of Sycom units.

Unitholders have been warned to exercise caution when dealing in their Sycom units until full details of the acquisition, developments, investments and the funding were announced.

The deals include a R150m office development Sycom is financing in Cape Town's central business district. The development, offering retail area of 1686m² and office accommodation of 13841m², was announced in May.