R1 billion shopping mall sale for two of South Africa’s biggest owners

Two of South Africa’s biggest shopping mall owners, Attacq and Hyprop Investments, are selling their stakes in a host of sub-saharan mall assets to the tune of R1 billion.

The groups will be selling their respective stakes in shopping mall assets in Ghana and Nigeria to Lango Real Estate Limited.

In a relatively complicated ownership model, Attacq (through AIH International) and Hyprop (through Hyprop Mauritius) own the assets through their respective stakes in Nigeria’s Gruppo Investments and Ghana’s AttAfrica.

AIHI holds 25% and Hyprop Mauritius 75% of the shares in Gruppo through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, both groups hold a 50% share in AttAfrica (with economic interests of 27% and 73% respectively).

Through the sale, the disposal of the stakes will total just under US$60 million (R1 billion), split as follows:

• Gruppo: US$32,010,597 apportioned as US$7,901,918 for AIHI and US$24,108,679 for Hyprop
• AttAfrica: US$27,306,002 apportioned as US$7,339,854 for AIHI and US$19,966,148 for Hyprop

Ultimately, Attacq’s share of the sale represents R280 million, and Hyrop’s share the balance of R720 million.

In notices to shareholders on Monday (12 August), both groups noted that the disposal of the portfolios relates to their strategic focus in South Africa, which includes a planned exit from sub-Saharan Africa.

“These disposals are in line with Attacq’s stated strategy of exiting sub-Saharan African markets outside of South Africa and focus on its South African assets,” Attacq said.

In 2012, Hyprop co-invested in Atterbury Africa – a property investment fund focused on investing in shopping centres in Sub-Saharan Africa, although this particular portfolio only repressed 7% of the Group’s investment property, by value, at the end of FY 2023.

The group flagged currency issues and the inability to repatriate profits from that portfolio to South Africa as issues relating to the assets.

The group noted that in both Nigeria and Ghana, significant economic challenges, including currency depreciation and inflation, and the lack of US Dollar liquidity negatively, was affecting cash flow intended to service bank debt.

As a result, South African operations were providing financial support to the SSA portfolio.

“We see opportunities in Europe and parts of South Africa, particularly the Western Cape, but remain committed to exit SSA,” it said.

South Africa boom

Combined, Hyprop and Attacq own and manage some of the biggest shopping malls in South Africa, including the country’s busiest mall, Mall of Africa, and regional staples, like Canal Walk and Rosebank Mall.

Attacq is known for Waterfall City in Midrand, which houses Mall of Africa and billions of rands worth of other developments.

The group has made clear its strategic intent to invest in precincts that it owns and controls.

In June, the group, through another subsidiary, Attacq Waterfall Investment Company Proprietary Limited (AWIC), got approval for a R1 billion purchase of the remaining 20% of Mall of Africa.

Attacq previously said that the mall is valued at R5.8 billion, with purchase consideration representing a discount of 7.7% from the external market valuation.

Mall of Africa is the business mall in South Africa in terms of visits and mall durations (counting per visiting vehicle) and anchors Waterfall City.

Attacq previously said that the mall is profiting from Waterfall City’s continued densification as the AWIC continues to develop residential and logistics hubs.

Hyprop, meanwhile, has an extensive portfolio of shopping malls in South Africa, including Canal Walk, Rosebank Mall, Clearwater Mall, Woodlands Mall and The Glen.

The group recently added Table Bay Mall to its portfolio for R1.6 billion. The 67,500 sqm mall is located in Sunningdale, inland from Blouberg and Bay Bay, on Cape Town’s West Coast.

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