Retail Africa, prominent developer and operator of retail malls in South Africa, recently invited both Attacq Property Fund, owned by Atterbury, and Folkes Holdings Limited, a UK property company, to each purchase a 20% stake in RAPFund, one of its private retail property funds.

The deal, at a value of R440 million, was a strategic move for Retail Africa.  “Our new partners have been carefully selected,” says Jannie Kr?ger, Chief Executive Officer of RAPFund.  “Being leaders in their respective markets they bring significant skill and expertise to our business and expedite our ongoing growth strategy of acquiring select quality products.”

With a current gross value of approximately R550 million, it is envisaged that a further 8 properties, currently under construction, will be added to the RAPFund portfolio over the next two years.  This will escalate the gross value of the Fund to around R2 billion by the end of 2009.

“RAPFund was established to create a focused quality retail property portfolio that exclusively targets only high income spend, coupled with strong urban growth in South Africa,” says Kr?ger.  “The convenience shopping centre Fund currently houses shopping centres of less than 15,000 m² that are located in growth nodes in high net worth areas.”

The 10 properties currently in RAPFund include investments in:-

• Featherbrooke Village Shopping Centre – Ruimsig
• Steenberg Village Shopping Centre – Cape Town
• San Ridge Square – Midrand
• Eden Meadows Shopping Centre – Edenvale
• Honeydew Village Shopping Centre – Randburg
• Kingfisher Corner Shopping Centre – East Rand
• Clearwater Crossing – West Rand
• ‘L Corro – Northcliff
• Waterkloof Corner – Brooklyn
• The Parks – Saxonwold

Properties housed within RAPFund are easily identifiable by their strategic locations that enjoy superior accessibility and visibility, as well as a superb tenant mix.  Anchor tenants normally include either Pick ‘n Pay or Woolworths or both.

According to Louis van der Watt, Atterbury’s CEO, “We regard our investment in RAPFund as integral to our current expansion strategy.  RAPFund is a perfect match for us as we seek to invest in focused funds where the management team has already proven its performance skills.  This is certainly the case with RAPFund.”

Constantine Folkes, Chairman and CEO of Folkes Holdings Ltd reaffirmed the company’s commitment to South Africa.  “It is evident that South Africa is a rapidly emerging economy and that there is a strong determination from all quarters to build a robust national identity and deliver financial stability and growth.  Our strategy is to inject R300 million of capital into the SA market, primarily in the retail sector.  We recognise the strengths and expertise of the Retail Africa team and we are pleased to be associated with them and their product.”

Retail Africa has also recently established Wingspan, a second property fund, which houses major centres and selected office parks.  The cutting edge new Irene Village (30,000 m²), Westwood Mall (35,000 m) and Clearwater Office Park (17,000 m²), with a joint value of R1.4 billion, are currently under construction.