Market sources in Pretoria, Windhoek and Harare have reportedly revealed that Zimbabwean financial institutions, Stratus Capital Partners and Bard Santner Markets are in the process of brokering a massive N$1.8 billion deal involving the acquisition of an iconic property, The Grove Mall of Namibia, in Windhoek.
The deal will see South African property giant, Atterbury Property Holdings, owned by the JSE-listed Atterbury Group, selling the mall to Zimbabwean investors, mainly pension funds, keen to invest in the regional market to increase value for stakeholders.
Atterbury is a real estate development, investment and management company.
Zimbabwe’s biggest daily, The Herald this week reported that as lead financial adviser, Bard is closely working with Stratus, led by Chikuni Shenjere-Mutiswa, a chartered financial analyst whose experience in executive investment management spans two decades.
Bard is led by banker Senziwani Sikhosana, who also has over two decades experience in banking, investment, property, and capital and money markets dealings.
Sikhosana works with a Zimbabwean business consortium, which includes Tatenda Hungwe, Alfred Mthimkhulu and international finance expert Vinod Bussawah from Mauritius. It develops prime mixed-use, commercial, retail and industrial properties. From its South African roots, it has spread its wings across Africa and into Europe.
In the process, it has developed many properties in South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe worth billions.
Sikhosana, the Bard chief executive was this week quoted saying: “We are not able to discuss the deal in the media at the moment, but we will let you know when we are ready to talk soon.”
Grove Mall which is dominated by top A-grade tenants, has an annual turnover of N$890 million.
Built by Howard and Chamberlain Architects through investment from Atterbury Property, Attacq Ltd, The Frontier Property Trust and Demushuwa Property Developer (Pty) Ltd, The Grove, located in the Hilltop mixed-use estate in Kleine Kuppe in the southern Windhoek suburbs, corner Chasie Street and Frankie Fredericks Drive, is largest shopping centre ever to be developed in Namibia, measuring 52 000 square metres, at a cost of N$1 billion.
Kleine Kuppe and its environs is currently the fastest growth node in Windhoek.
Conveniently, the mall has easy access from almost all suburbs in Namibia’s capital as well as to both international airports.
The primary focus of the mall is on retail and entertainment. It has all the big retail shops found in South Africa and elsewhere in the region. A number of contemporary restaurants with outside seating under the African sky, provide spectacular views of Windhoek.
It says securitising internationally-held assets is critical as it would allow capital-seeking individuals and corporates to borrow offshore in markets where the macro-economic fundamentals, especially interest rates, are stable and repayment terms favourable.
“The Grove is our flagship asset in Namibia and one of the landmark shopping centres in Windhoek. The mall is trading extremely well and thus when the opportunity presented itself we took the investment decision to acquire the asset outright. Attacq Limited decided to sell their 25% shareholding in The Grove Mall of Namibia and as we had pre-emptive rights, we exercised these. Earlier this year, our remaining partners indicated that they want to dispose of their shares in the asset, which we then also acquired,” Atterbury’s Armond Boshoff said in 2018 when the property firm acquired 100% shareholding of the mall.