It’s official as of August 12, 2024. The South African real estate groups Attacq and Hyprop are selling their interests in shopping centers in Nigeria and Ghana. The reason given was that both companies wanted to concentrate on their investments in South Africa. The transactions involve the sale of the two companies’ stakes in the Ikeja City shopping center in Nigeria, as well as in structures such as Accra Mall, Kumasi City Mall and West Hills Mall in Ghana.
This agreement is structured around two major transactions. The first involves the sale by Attacq, through its subsidiary AIH International (AIHI), and Hyprop Mauritius of their stakes in Ikeja City Mall. This sale includes AIHI’s 25% stake and Hyprop Mauritius’s 75% stake in Gruppo, the entity that owns Ikeja City Mall. The total consideration for this transaction is USD 32 million. It is to be settled by issuing Class A shares at USD 4.19 each in Lango Real Estate, the buyer, according to local media reports.
The second transaction concerns Attacq’s 50% stake in AttAfrica, owner of the Ghanaian properties. The consideration for this sale is approximately USD 27.31 million. Like the first transaction, it will also be settled by the issue of Lango shares.
The companies are thus leaving the Nigerian and Ghanaian markets. To this end, Attacq said it wanted to concentrate on its domestic assets while offloading the guarantees associated with the lenders. Hyprop said the transactions were in line with its stated intention to divest its investments in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.
This turn around by South Africa’s commercial real estate giants comes at a time when the sector is growing quickly in South Africa. Forecasts indicate that the size of the commercial real estate market in South Africa is set to grow from 9.62 billion USD in 2024 to 16.09 billion USD by 2029, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.84% over the forecast period (2024-2029). This data was made public by Mordor Intelligence in a report entitled South Africa commercial real estate market size and share analysis: growth trends and forecasts (2024-2029).
