South African company buys R480 million mall

Dipula Properties has acquired Soweto’s Protea Gardens Mall for R480 million as part of five new deals worth about R700 million to expand its retail, industrial, and logistics portfolio.

On 19 August, JSE-listed Dipula Properties announced that it had made five strategic acquisitions totalling approximately R700 million.

The most notable of these was the R480 million acquisition of Protea Gardens Mall, located along Chris Hani Road in Soweto.

Founded in 2005, Dipula is a prominent South Africa-focused REIT with a market cap of R5.23 billion. The company has a defensive portfolio, and more than two-thirds of its income is derived from retail centres in townships, rural areas, and urban convenience nodes.

Its portfolio consists of retail centres across the country, including Woodmead Super Value Mall, The Atrium, Meadowpoint Shopping Centre, and Blackheath Pavilion.

The rest of its portfolio is made up of office, industrial and residential offerings, including Urban Village in Bruma, Midrand, and Northwood.

“With these acquisitions, Dipula continues its portfolio growth strategy, focused primarily on retail, industrial and logistics assets,” the company said.

Dipula Properties CEO Izak Peterson described the acquisitions as “an agile response to improving market conditions and a more favourable cost of capital environment”.

Protea Gardens Mall is a 24,000 m² community shopping centre located in the densely populated area of Protea, Soweto.

Anchored by leading national retailers, including Shoprite, Boxer, and Cashbuild, alongside popular fashion brands, the mall boasts over 70% national tenant occupancy.

“Protea Gardens Mall is an excellent strategic fit for Dipula with embedded growth and value unlock potential, underpinned by quality tenants and a growing consumer market,” Petersen said.

The acquisition supports Dipula’s strategic objective to grow its exposure to its targeted retail markets.

Dipula grows its profile

Dipula also announced it had concluded terms for two retail additions that will deepen its presence in key and proven markets.

Woolworths Gezina is adjacent to Dipula’s highly successful Gezina Galleries, a shopping centre based in Pretoria. This 4,600 m² addition will be incorporated into the existing centre.

The expansion enhances the overall tenant mix and brings the centre’s gross lettable area to around 20,000 m².

The company has also agreed to acquire land adjacent to the 15,000 m² Tower Mall, which is owned by Dipula, in Jouberton.

This acquisition unlocks the potential for future expansion for a strong-performing shopping centre. Tower Mall’s offerings include leading retailers like Boxer, Mr Price, Clicks and KFC.

Complementing its retail momentum, Dipula concluded terms for two properties that further cement its core focus on logistics and industrial assets.

Airborne Industrial Park, located near OR Tambo International Airport and adjacent to the N12 highway, is a fully-let multi-tenanted park of 6,964 m².

Abland DC is a modern logistics development spanning more than 16,000 m² and is anchored by a strong tenant covenant on a long lease.

“Both these assets have excellent tenant profiles and are well aligned with our approach to capital allocation in the industrial sector, which is a core part of our strategy,” Petersen added.