Simon Fifield will resign as CEO of Newpark, which owns the JSE’s offices in Johannesburg, in November to “allow him more time to focus on other opportunities”.
Auri Benatar, executive director of Trademarc Property Fund and Wainer and Associates Property Consultants, will take over at the helm, the real estate investment trust (Reit) said on Wednesday.
“The board thanks Simon for his invaluable contribution, leadership and guidance since Newpark’s listing in 2016 and wishes him well in his future endeavours. The board welcomes Auri as the company’s future CEO and looks forward to his contribution to the company,” it said.
Newpark, which is valued at R379m on the JSE, aims to build a portfolio of property assets that can withstand tough economic times and offer good returns. It has focused on managing its existing properties over the past two years and could not find the value it wanted in potential acquisitions.
It owns four properties: two in Sandton, one in Linbro Business Park and the other in Crown Mines, roughly the size of eight football fields and with a total value of R1.33bn. Their overall vacancies stand at 10.6%.
Property valuations continue to be affected by the harsh economic conditions, and rentals are still down as many people switched to working from home, while many businesses expanded their online offerings during the pandemic. However, three of the four buildings in Newpark’s portfolio have single tenants with good credit quality on secure leases.
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