Broll achieves approximately R2bn in investment sales

An office block in Pinetown was one of the properties sold on auction.

An office block in Pinetown was one of the properties sold on auction.

PRESS OFFICE: Broll

Notwithstanding a tough economic environment with low economic growth and rising interest rates, investment sales nearly R2bn were achieved by the Broll Property Group in the past year.

Nationally, the Broll Auctions and Sales achieved in excess on R1bn worth of commercial property sales while the broking division achieved sales in excess of R840m.

“The sales achieved are testament to continued investor appetite for high-quality and correctly-priced assets across all sectors,” says Group CEO, Malcolm Horne of the Broll Property Group.

He notes that activity in the market has been driven by some listed funds disposing some of their non-core assets, while others were making new acquisitions with some unlisted funds and private investors looking to add to their portfolios.

Sean Berowsky, Head of Broking at Broll says: “We still see the listed sector, large privately-owned funds and institutions selling non-core South African assets through the remainder of 2016 with an acquisitions focus on currency hedging and yield accretive plays in Europe, Australia and Africa.”

This is because there is limited quality stock available, as a result, some listed funds would not be selling their prized assets, thus offshore investments will be appealing.

Berowsky says investment sales for the financial year exceeded R840m, with notable deals including: the Cape Gate Lifestyle Centre in Brackenfell, which was owned by Hyprop and sold to FPG Group; the Town Square in Mitchells Plain which was owned by Old Mutual was sold to Interurban and Emira Property Fund; the Rivergate Industrial Estate in Milnerton which was owned by Milnerton Estates and was sold to Capital Property Fund; and the Protea Place on West Street in Durban and Vaalgate Mall in Vanderbijlpark, among others.

The successful integration of Broll Auctions and Sales into the Group has brought enormous confidence back into the auction space in South Africa.

“Our auction business achieved phenomenal results during the year, and has allowed the Group to provide buyers and sellers with a credible platform to sell or buy assets through dedicated auction and investment divisions with an outstanding track record,” says Horne.

With over R1bn worth of commercial property sales achieved in the first year of operations, Broll Auctions and Sales will continue to focus on quality of stock rather than quantity of assets, explains Bradley Stephens, managing director of Broll Auctions and Sales.

Among deals done during the year, he notes that nationally, sellers included private treaty transactions, blue chip companies such as Momentum and listed property funds such as Fortress Income Fund Limited. Notable sales include a shopping centre in Queenstown and the sale of an office block in Durban for SA Corporate Real Estate Fund.

“During our recent auction in June, we had the most interest in residential blocks. We had four prime buildings in the greater Johannesburg CBD area with one being sold pre-auction,” says Stephens.

“Residential blocks are currently in demand at auctions as these assets offer resilience in tough times – and the upcoming auction on 27 July has some residential blocks, a shopping centre, some office blocks and industrial units,” adds Stephens.


About Broll Property Group

Founded in 1975, Broll Property Group is an award-winning and one of Africa´s leading commercial property services companies serving the investor and occupier markets. Broll offices include South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Mauritius, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria with operations in over 17 sub-Saharan African countries.

Broll offers services which include auctions and sales, corporate real estate services, facilities management, industrial, investment and office broking, property management, retail leasing and projects, research, shopping centre management, valuation and advisory services, own patented Broll-Online property-management software solution and a property search function with a vast database of properties across South Africa.

Since 2004, Broll has represented CBRE in sub-Saharan Africa and through this affiliation, Broll is able to offer unrivalled global market knowledge to the benefit of clients. For more information, visit www.broll.com

Media Contacts
Denise Mhlanga
Broll Property Group
Group Media Strategist
Tel: +27 11 441 4274
Cell: +27 78 021 9696
Email: [email protected]

Broll Auctions and Sales
Bradley Stephens
Managing Director
Tel: +27 87 700 8289
Cell: +27 82 443 7731
Email: [email protected]

Broking
Sean Berowsky
Head of Broking
Tel: +27 21 446 1823
Cell: +27 82 810 8950
Email: [email protected]