Ikeja City Mall acquired by South African real estate firm

Ikeja City Mall acquired by South African real estate firm

Marking its first investment in Nigeria, South African real estate investment trust Hyprop acquired 75% of Lagos-based Ikeja City Mall.

Fellow JSE-listed real estate capital growth fund Attacq acquired the remaining 25%.

The property companies acquired Lagos’s largest mall from emerging markets investor Actis and partners RMB Westport and Paragon Holdings.

Actis and Paragon Holdings sourced the development site in 2008, while RMB Westport, initially appointed by Actis as the development manager in 2008, invested as an equity partner in 2010. Actis had now sold its 60% majority stake, while Paragon Holdings and RMB Westport have both sold their 20% stakes in the mall.

Ikeja City Mall, which opened in 2011 and attracted about 800 000 shoppers a month, comprised over 22 000 m² and had a tenant mix anchored by Shoprite, offering South African brands including Mr Price, Spur, MTN and Markhams and international brands including Nike, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, TM Lewin, Mango, i-Store, KFC and Max Fashion.

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

Attacq CEO Morné Wilken added that the strategic investment in Ikeja City Mall formed part of the group’s larger African investment strategy and was executed with the assistance of its AttAfrica team.

“It is our first investment in Nigeria, an African market with fantastic growth prospects. It adds to our investment in the growing portfolio of dominant, quality retail malls in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, Actis real estate head David Morley pointed out that the sale reflected the strong retail opportunity in West Africa and the interest of quality institutional investors in sub-Saharan African real estate assets.

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

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

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