South African firms buy Ikeja City Mall

Hyprop Investments Limited (Hyprop), a South African Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), and Attacq Limited (Attacq) have completed the acquisition of Ikeja city mall, Lagos.

Actis and Paragon Holdings on Tuesday confirmed the sale of the mall to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed real estate capital growth fund.

Hyprop acquired a 75 percent interest in Ikeja City Mall while Attacq acquired the remaining 25 percent of the multi-million dollar mall.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the parties involved in the deal expressed their pleasure in the success of the deal.

Pieter Prinsloo, CEO of Hyprop, said: “Hyprop is well‐placed to capitalise on opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa, due to its partnership with the Atterbury Group and Attacq, whose combined expertise facilitates exploiting opportunities as they arise.”

David Morley, head of real estate at Actis, said the sale reflects the strong retail opportunity in West Africa and the interest of quality institutional investors in sub-Saharan real estate assets.

“This is the sixth exit from the first Actis real estate fund. It is a continuation of Actis’ proven cash to cash track record of delivering A-grade real estate assets in sub-Saharan Africa, positioned to be attractive to both international and local institutional buyers,” he said.

“Over two funds, Actis has committed to 17 institutional quality developments in seven countries totalling a gross asset value of $1.3bn.”

Morné Wilken, the CEO of Attacq, revealed that the mall is now his firm’s first investment in Nigeria, referring to the country as an “African market with fantastic growth prospects”.

Frank Obi, group executive director of Paragon Holdings, hailed the Lagos state government for hosting investors from outside Nigeria.

“We are pleased to have been a part of this landmark project from its inception to the present. It is a testament to the foresight and resolve of our leadership, and to the position of Lagos State and its government as leading hosts to serious investors in Africa,” he said.

“We look forward to working with quality foreign investors to develop outstanding real estate projects in the years ahead.”

Ikeja city mall, known as Lagos’ largest mall houses many South African businesses like Shoprite, Mr Price, Spur, MTN and Markham.

The mall, which opened in December 2011 and attracts hundreds of thousands shoppers per month, is also Hyprop’s first investment in Nigeria.

The implications of the sale include an upgrade of the facility, change in regime status and launch of new South African businesses among others.