Nick Wilson

THE empowerment consortium that has bought a 14,2% interest in listed property loan stock company Growthpoint Properties is restricted from selling the stake for at least seven years.

This week, an empowerment consortium including former justice minister Penuell Maduna and former director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka paid more than R1bn for the stake in Growthpoint.

The lock-in clause ensures that Growthpoint, which is the largest property company listed on the JSE, with assets of more than R9bn and a market capitalisation of more than R7bn, will keep its empowerment credentials and benefit under the property charter.

The draft property industry charter, which is under consideration by the public works departments, aims to place about a quarter of the listed property sector in black hands in five years.

Growthpoint CEO Norbert Sasse said the seven-year lock-in period ensured the company kept its partners. "If we are going to comply with the charter, we will have to continue increasing the empowerment exposure," he said. "In various sectors, early transactions were structured on the basis that (empowerment partners) were not tied in. As there was an … increase in the value of the shares, the (partners) sold out, banked the profit and left the underlying company without any empowerment credentials."

Sasse said almost all empowerment transactions today had a minimum lock-in period.

Growthpoint might have to increase its empowerment exposure in time.

"If we are going to comply with the charter, we will have to continue increasing the empowerment exposure."