Freedom Property Fund heads for the JSE
Freedom Property Fund CEO, Tyrone Govender, a former executive director at Growthpoint Properties, says the JSE listing will enhance its market position and provide its investors access to a market in which its shares can be traded.
Freedom Property Fund, whose asset base valued at R1,56 billion in the office, industrial and residential sectors, aims to list on the JSE in the next few weeks with a market capitalisation of about R1 billion.
Freedom, currently a public unlisted company, has opted to list on the main board of the JSE under “Real Estate – Real Estate Holdings and Development” sector under the share code “FDP”.
The company has a strong weighting in high-demand, selective residential property segments which are forecast to generate significant rental incomes. In doing so, it takes advantage of the limited access for investors to the listed residential property industry in South Africa.
Despite the listed property sector undergoing through a form of consolidation, Freedom Property Fund CEO, Tyrone Govender says the company was created to provide a platform for property owners and developers to unlock the value in their development projects.
"With access to funding becoming increasingly challenging to secure in the current economic environment, it is Freedom’s strategy to provide a vehicle through which property owners can secure the necessary development funding,” he said.
Govender explains that the listing will provide a significant base for the company to achieve its phased approach to growth and raise new funding to progress its growth strategy.
“It will enhance Fund’s ability to raise both debt and equity finance to develop projects and take advantage of any acquisition and growth opportunities which may arise in the future.”
On listing, Freedom’s gearing will be less than 3%, and its net asset value (NAV) per share will be around 35% greater than issue price of a Freedom share.
Govender explains that Freedom’s focus on long-term sustainable capital growth differentiates it from investments such as REITs that mainly focus on income distribution. This makes it a defensive investment relative to REITs in the current property cycle.
Its asset base valued at R1,56 billion, comprise of office, industrial and residential property sectors, including the Steelpoort Industrial Park in Limpopo, Wespark Palms in the Free State and Stellenbosch Industrial in the Western Cape.
The portfolio is complemented by a secured pipeline of five commercial developments, nine residential rental property developments and two residential sale property developments, as well as a long-term development pipeline in decentralised areas throughout South Africa.
Freedom’s executive team includes CEO Govender, a former executive director of Growthpoint Properties who has gained 18 years of listed property experience.
Also driving the company forward, the management team behind Freedom is Richard Eaton as Chief Financial Officer, Gerhard Erasmus as the Property Development Manager and Graham Stavridis as Business Development Manager.
According to the company, the team scores strongly on Property Sector Charter requirements for the representation of black persons at board and senior management level.
The Fund runs in-house asset and property management operations in order deliver better value for investors.
