Acsion Limited to make JSE debut soon

Acsion Limited founder, Kiriakos Anastasiadis commented: "We are very excited about this listing, which marks the next evolution in our quest for growth."

Mall@Carnival owner, Acsion Limited whose portfolio valued in excess of R3.2 billion has indicated plans to list its property business on the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) in December.

The property developer aims to list under the Real Estate Holding and Development banner, accompanied by the initial raising of R200 million via an initial private placement with institutional and qualifying retail investors and clients of selected stock-broking firms.

Acsion said on Tuesday that the JSE has granted it a listing of up to 414 761 956 shares, with the company offering 19 801 980 shares for subscription, at a range of between R10.10 and R10.80 per share.

The private placement opened last Thursday and closes on Friday.

Kiriakos Anastasiadis, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Acsion said: “We are very excited about this listing, which marks the next evolution in our quest for growth. We have a 17 year history of identifying and extracting value from development opportunities."

Acsion's plans to list follows Pivotal Property Fund also looking to list by December.

The counter is a mainly retail asset player, with its portfolio of a gross lettable area of 188 416 square meters valued at R3.2 billion. Some of its assets include Gauteng regional malls: Mall@Carnival and Mall@Reds, three community malls in Gauteng, Mpulalanga and Limpopo and a light industrial development in Centurion.

“Our existing portfolio provides a stable income stream and balance sheet strength to pursue high-growth development opportunities whilst maintaining prudent gearing ratios and capital buffers. We currently have exceptionally low gearing of 7% which provides significant headroom for growth” commented, Pieter Scholtz, Chief Financial Officer of Acsion.

The fair value of the developing pipeline is currently estimated at R339.6 million, however over time it is anticipated that this pipeline will contribute approximately R865 million to the NAV of Acsion.

The current 119 416m2 development pipeline comprises seven secured development opportunities, with the roll-out expected to take place over a three-year period from listing.

Projects developed include phase III of Mall@Carnival (on the back of tenant demand), Mall@Moutsiya in Limpopo, phase I of Mall@Ruimte (Centurion), Development@Benmore (Sandton), phase I of Commercial@Ruimte (Centurion), Residential@Moutsiya and Hyde Park Terrace.

Whilst maintaining our retail bias, our strategy is to diversify sectorally into residential and commercial, and geographically into select southern African countries together with strong local partners,” concluded Anastasiadis.

Stanlib head of listed property funds, Keillen Ndlovu, said he expected to see more funds buying or developing residential properties next year.

The JSE has seen about 10 new property listings over the past 18 months, including Fourways Mall owner Accelerate Property Fund, Tower Property Fund, township-focused Safari Investments and industrial play Equities Property Fund.