Major South African property company sells two shopping malls for R215 million

Accelerate Property Fund plans to sell two shopping centres located in Fourways, Gauteng, for R215 million.

Accelerate is a real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the JSE with a market cap of around R941 million. Its most notable asset is a 50% stake in Fourways Mall, the largest mall in South Africa.

On Tuesday, 26 August, Accelerate announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell the Buzz Shopping Centre and Waterford Centre, situated in Fourways, Gauteng.

These two centres will be sold to Dorpstraat Capital Growth Fund and Property House Group Investments.

The ultimate beneficial holders of Dorpstraat Capital Growth Fund are Dorpstraat Property Investments, Rabie Property Group, Nedbank Property Partners and Alpha Plus.

Property House Group Investments’ ultimate beneficial holders are Wimson Trust and the Gray Trust.

The Buzz will be sold for R150 million and Waterford for R65 million, totalling R215 million. In Accelerate’s latest results for the year ended 31 March 2025, the properties’ net operating incomes were R20.8 million and R7.9 million, respectively.

Therefore, the disposal yield is 9.5% based on a one-year forward net income from 1 April 2025, after considering Pick n Pay’s exit as the anchor tenant at The Buzz.

The Buzz boasts a gross lettable area (GLA) of 14,148 m² and a weighted average gross rental of R176/m².

Waterford has a GLA of 6,869 m² and a weighted average gross rental of R153/m².

As part of the sale agreement, the R215 million total purchase price will be paid through an initial cash payment of R200 million against registration of the transfer of the properties. 

Following this, the purchasers will pay Accelerate R5 million upon receipt of Waterford’s approved building plans.

A further R10 million will be paid on proclamation by the local authority for rezoning an erf that is part of The Buzz from “special” to “retail” within 30 days of such approvals being obtained.

The company explained that these transactions form part of Accelerate’s ongoing strategic repositioning and restructuring programme. It intends to apply the proceeds of the disposal to reducing its debt.