Property Correspondent

THE new merged property services group called JHI said yesterday it planned to expand its footprint in the Middle East and Africa this year.

JHI said it had adopted a “strategy of opportunistic growth” where it entered other countries on the back of existing property contracts and opportunities.

It said the transactions were “financially viable right from the start”.

Commenting on the JHI Real Estate and Gensec Property Services merger, new JHI CEO Marna van der Walt said the group was looking to expand into Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, as well as Nigeria.

The group already has a presence in Saudi Arabia.

In September, property services groups JHI Real Estate and Gensec announced a R150m merger that would result in the creation of one of the largest property services groups in the country, with assets under management worth about R20bn.

The merger, which will be backdated to be effective from January 1, requires only Competition Commission approval on new shareholdings in the merged entity called JHI. The commission has already approved the actual merger.

Van der Walt said the merged JHI now had offices in all the major metropolitan areas and smaller towns in SA. The group also has offices in Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia.

It is also involved as development managers in major projects in Ghana.

In Saudi Arabia it is based in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah.

Van der Walt said JHI had signed memorandums of understanding in Kuwait to open offices. “We are working with partners in Qatar and Bahrain to open offices.”

She said the group was also working on obtaining memorandums of understanding to open offices in Nigeria, Kenya and Malawi.

She said in all of these new areas the group hoped to offer the “full comprehensive services”.

Les Weil, who will be executive chairman of the new merged JHI until the end of June before taking up the position of a nonexecutive director, said the merged company also had new empowerment partners the Dempsey Naidoo Trust and Vunani Capital.

The Dempsey Naidoo Trust owns 10% of JHI, while Vunani has a 20% stake.

Other shareholders include JHI management, which holds 28,5%, Sanlam, with 20%, JH Isaacs Group with 12% and Phatsima Industrial with 5,1%.

JHI management includes empowered individuals. With the addition of these new partners the merged JHI is 50,1% black owned.

Weil said the old JHI Real Estate group had moved its empowerment component to 50%. But following the merger, this component had been reduced.

Weil said the group then set about increasing the black-owned component of JHI back up to the 50% level.

Chris Nissen, chairman of empowerment property fund Vunani Capital, said the shareholding in JHI afforded the group an “international footprint and national footprint in property development and property management”.

Dempsey Naidoo said the Dempsey Naidoo Trust was looking “at making itself relevant in a black-controlled property entity”.