Logistics and warehousing focused real-estate investment trust (Reit) Equites, the best performing South African listed property company over last three to five years, has acquired logistics properties from Attacq in the Waterfall node. The transaction is complex, however, and the details are explained by Equities chief executive in the interview below. The Waterfall node is quickly becoming another business hub in the Gauteng region, being a convenient interlink between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Interestingly, less than 24 hours after the announcement of the transaction, Equites announced a R500m accelerated book build which subsequently increased to R1bn following increased demand. An interesting decision for a property company on the lower end of the loan-to-value (LTV) spectrum compared to industry peers and in an environment where debt financing is the cheapest its been in decades. Andrea Taverna-Turisan, chief executive of Equites, formed part of the BizNews Power Hour, unpacking all the necessaries and questions that have unfolded over the past 24 hours. A fascinating interview with a visionary, who saw opportunity in the logistics space far before it became the fashionable property segment to be invested in. – Justin Rowe-Roberts
On whether the acquisition was opportunistic given Attacq’s debt issues:Â Â
We have done a transaction with the Attacq team before. So we already own seven or eight properties in the Waterfall prescient. We owned them in a 80% – 20% joint venture partnership for a few years and then we bought out the remaining 20% of those assets from the partnership. We’ve maintained fantastically positive relationships with all of Attacq’s recent CEOs.
On the Waterfall node becoming a business hub, a convenient interlink between Johannesburg and Pretoria:
We certainly believe that. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t guarantee you that, but we certainly believe that. I think as a node, the original visionaries, from the Atterbury crowd that put the whole scheme together. I think you can not just be impressed when you drive through the node and see the level and quality of infrastructure. The quality of everything that has been done there, from the office node to the residential node, to the retail node and the industrial node is surely is also in the same league.
On why Equites chose to dilute shareholders via a book build rather than use debt funding:Â
 We have a really good pipeline. We want to keep our balance sheet healthy. The other thing about our business is that one needs to take cognisance of is that we don’t tend to do R20m and R30m deals. We do R40om to R1bn deals at a time.
Read also:Â
- Equites Property Fund: Price vs Value
- Equites CEO: Andrea Taverna-Turisan on bucking the property trend
- SA e-commerce growth drives demand for logistics spaces: Equites Property Fund
