Rebosis Property Fund, whose debt has eroded 98% of its market value over the past five years, has inked a R6.32bn deal that would see it sell its mostly government-let commercial portfolio to a vehicle wholly owned by Vunani Capital Partners.
Valued at R196m on the JSE, Rebosis, led by founder Sisa Ngebulana, owns a mix of shopping malls and offices, and is struggling under a R9.4bn debt pile.
This is expected to fall to R3bn once the transaction proceeds, the group said in a statement, with its loan-to-value expected to reduce to about 42% from the 72.2% reported at the end of February.
“This is an important milestone as part of our road map to deleverage the balance sheet,” Ngebulana said.
“It crystallises value for shareholders and repositions Rebosis as a well-capitalised, retail-dominant real estate investment trust with solid growth prospects, paying consistent distributions to shareholders,” he said.
Rebosis, which became the first black-owned and managed property fund to list on the JSE when it made its debut about a decade ago, racked up debt through the financing of some of its flagship malls, including Baywest Mall in Gqeberha and Forest Hill in Centurion.
Rebosis’s commercial portfolio includes 35 buildings and one industrial property, of which 32 will be disposed of.
Once completed, Rebosis said it would have five dominant retail malls, and four other assets, valuing the fund at R7.5bn, with the transaction still subject to a number of approvals, including from competition regulators.
The group’s shares closed 3.7% higher at 28c on Friday, having earlier risen as much as 14.8% to 31c, a four-month high. The group had released details of the proposed transaction after markets closed on Thursday.
With Andries Mahlangu
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