BUSINESS opportunities valued at about R3bn will be on offer at the first South African Leisure and Lifestyle Property Investment Conference on November 5 and 6 at the Johannesburg Country Club in Auckland Park.

Suzan Adam, the managing director of Southgro Investment Conferences, says: "The conference is an American venture-capital concept of elevation pitches, but we also supply information about the environment, trends and investment character,"

Adam says leisure and lifestyle properties involve upmarket residential property developments such as golf estates, wine estates, wellness centres, boutique hotels and waterfront developments.

"We also look at equestrian estates," she says. "These are the kind of investments we'll be showcasing. Institutions have until now not invested in this sector of the market.

"In the main, the reasons are perceptions of high risk as they are expensive investments which require huge capital outlay."

She says Southgro Investment Conferences wants to attract the attention of private equity funds, the pension fund industry and other long-term institutional investors to specific opportunities in the sector.

"Indications from various developers is that a growth rate of 20 to 30% in this sector is sustainable," Adam says.

Five months before such a conference organisers begin sourcing entrepreneurs in search of capital and help them to prepare presentations for prospective investors, she says. Then a prospectus would be prepared giving comprehensive financial and track record forecasts.

Southgro successfully organised a similar capital exchange programme for the wine industry in Cape Town in May.

Oct 15 2003 08:05:47:000AM Nick Wilson Business Day 1st Edition