The much anticipated merger between Gensec Property Services and JHI Real Estate is now unconditional, except for Competition Commission approval on shareholders transactions. The merger brings together two leading players in the property services market with complimentary services and offices spread across South Africa's major cities and towns, as well as a growing presence in Africa

The merged company, which will be branded JHI, will have over R20 billion of assets under management.

The merger has enabled the company to strengthen its empowerment credentials, and management has also increased its shareholding to 28, 5%.
JHI is proud to announce that more than 50% of its shares will be black owned, and the new group will be fully compliant with the BEE scorecard.

Shareholders in the newly formed JHI include:

• Vunani Capital                    28,5%
• Management                        20%
• Dempsey Naidoo Trust              20%
• JH Isaacs Group                   12%
• Sanlam                            10%
• Phatsima Industrial (Pty)Ltd      5.1%

 
Les Weil, chairman of JHI said that the and their representatives constitute a powerful combination of expertise in the property sector, Dempsey Naidoo together with his colleagues have been involved professionally in engineering and other property related services for over 20 years and Vunani whose chairman is Chris Nissen, with Ethan Dube as CEO has operational intents inter alia in asset management and stock broking as well as sound experience in residential and commercial development and more recent in the formation of an unlisted R 500 million property investment company.

Les Weil added that the new JHI is now able to offer a more mature and comprehensive suite of services established trough synergies between the new companies. " These synergies will facilitate larger reach and more efficient management of overheads while our solid financial strength provides comfort and security for clients and staff, says Marna van der Walt, CEO of the merged company. This affords a stronger platform for growth offering a greater variety of services and a better range of perspectives.

The merged company's extensive footprint enables it to serve its clients needs over a wide geographic area.  Inside South Africa, the major metropolitan areas - Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein and East London are represented as well as major towns like Nelspruit and White River.  Outside South Africa there are offices in Windhoek and Oshikati, Lusaka, Maseru, Maputo and Accra as well as new opportunities in Nigeria, Malawi and Kenya.  In the Middle East there is representation in Saudi Arabia covering Jeddah, Al Khobar and Riyadh with plans to extend into Qatar and Kuwait.

Van Der Walt added that culturally the focus will be on running an entrepreneurial company that aggressively pursues opportunities as a team.
"We have a common set of values amongst our shareholders and employees which will be the foundation going forward.  Areas of duplication have been identified and the necessary plans to resolve them will be implemented."

Arlene Hennessy
JHI
Tel:  011 911 8000
Direct Line:  011 911 8268
Fax:  086 683 4072
Cell:  0723451344
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bongi Potelwa
Livewired Communications
Tel: 011 202 7877
Fax: 011 804 3804
Cell:  082 932 0852
E-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.