Madison unitholders have voted in favour of the acquisition of the company by Redefine Income Fund.

Madison Property Fund Managers’ international investment company, the recently established Global Phoenix Property Investments Ltd, will list on the Bermuda stock exchange towards the end of May

It is not surprising that external management of property funds is so controversial. It you look at the results of Madison Property Fund Managers for December, it earned R138m from the three listed property funds it manages but it also had a second and third bite of the cherry, earning R12m in leasing fees and R14,2m in property management fees which were paid by the three property companies it already manages.

You’d struggle to find a better emblem of the bubbling conflicts of interest that scar the property industry than the Hospitality Property Fund — symptomatic of a sector where “anything goes” is almost a mission statement.

Last Tuesday Growthpoint’s price leapt 9,9% to R15,50 on a record turnover of 30m shares. This when the listed property sector lies moribund on the margins of the world’s unravelling financial markets.

Madison Property Fund Managers have reported an interim distribution of 39 cents per linked unit for the period to 30 June 2008, representing an 8.3% increase from the prior interim distribution period

Although there is likely to be corporate activity in the form of mergers, even they will be affected by the pricing of units

Listed property company Acucap Properties yesterday announced it had acquired a 17,5% interest in Sycom Property Fund for R787,6m

Every listed property fund that has reported results so far this year has managed to raise income payouts by more than 10%. That suggests that the commercial property market - unlike its residential counterpart - still has some steam left

South Africa's largest JSE-listed property asset manager, Madison Property Fund Managers has achieved a total distribution of 76 cents per linked unit for the year ended 31 December 2007, 30% higher than the annualized maiden distribution of 39 cents for 2006