Charles Russell Speechlys has advised Growthpoint Investec African Properties Limited (GIAP), the pan-African real estate investment business managed by Growthpoint Investec African Property Management, on its first two acquisitions, in Ghana and Zambia. This is part of GIAP’s strategy to aggregate a quality portfolio of prime income-producing commercial real estate assets in select cities across Africa.
The first acquisition was of Achimota Retail Centre, a prime shopping centre in Accra, Ghana. The centre comprises about 15.000 m2 of retail space and is home to more than 50 retailers. This acquisition completed in early July 2019.
The second acquisition, which completed on 5th August 2019, was of Manda Hill Shopping Centre (Manda Hill), another prime shopping centre in Lusaka, Zambia. Manda Hill is located in central Lusaka, includes approximately 42,000sqm of retail space occupied by more than 120 retailers, including prominent tenants such as Shoprite, Game, Woolworths, Ackermans and Mr Price. The acquisition of Manda Hill marks the second key acquisition for the business and forms part of a pipeline of assets currently being negotiated for acquisition by GIAP.
GIAP was established by Growthpoint Properties Limited and Investec Asset Management, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation. GIAP achieved its first close on 31 March 2018 with committed capital of US$212 million.
Thomas Reilly, Managing Director of Growthpoint Investec African Properties, said:
“These investments mark the first in a pipeline of acquisitions, as part of our strategy to aid the development of local African real estate markets and to contribute to the wide-ranging developmental impact that real estate can have in such markets. GIAP has timed its entry into the market to take advantage of a highly attractive entry-point into key cities, which we view as offering strong growth prospects. Many thanks to Adrian and rest of the team at Charles Russell Speechlys whose excellent and practical advice, coupled with great experience and commercial knowledge of transacting and advising on deals in Africa, was important in getting these deals over the line.”
Corporate Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, Adrian Mayer commented:
“We were delighted to support Thomas and the team at GIAP in navigating through the complexities of these transactions, the first acquisitions of this kind for GIAP. We were able to draw upon expertise from a multidisciplinary team across our Corporate, Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Construction teams, bolstered of course by our wealth of experience advising on Africa related deals. We look forward to working further with GIAP as it deploys on its strategy going forward.”
The Charles Russell Speechlys team for both transactions was led by Corporate Partner Adrian Mayer, with Senior Corporate Associate Edward Robinson; and also comprised Corporate Associate Rebecca Brown, Banking & Finance Partner Jon Bond, Senior Banking & Finance Associate Susan Mitchell, and Real Estate & Construction Partner Naomi Nettleton.
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