SANLAM SELLS GIANT CENTRE      

By Ian Fife 

Insurance giant Sanlam appears to have sold one of its biggest property assets, the 61 000 m² regional shopping centre Fourways Mall, north of Johannesburg. 

And surprisingly, the buyer is neither a listed property fund nor another insurer or pension fund.  It is believed to be a private buyer who has paid about R700m for the centre. He is one of a handful of investors who have built multi billion-rand private property portfolios in recent years. 

They include Zenprop, originally funded in the late 1990s by financier Jonathan Bear, Ellerine brothers Eric and Syd, and Bloemfontein-based Nick Georgio, who is one of SA's biggest private property owners. 

Zenprop is unlikely to be a buyer and the Ellerines are still absorbing their joint purchase of Canal Walk in Cape Town with listed fund Hyprop.

Georgio was not available for comment; nor was Sanlam property chief Banus van der Walt.  Fourways Mall is the 10-year-old centrepiece of the Fourways business node, 11 km north of the Sandton CBD, that is expected to become Johannesburg's third major CBD in the next decade.

Three middle- to upper-income families are moving into the area each day.  Broll valuations director David Alcock says private buyers have been outbidding listed funds lately.