JSE-listed real estate investment trust Accelerate Property Fund has bought the holding companies for six currently-tenanted properties with a combined gross lettable area of 46 941 m2 across South Africa for R850-million.
The deal would see the fund absorb 100% of Parktown Crescent Properties (PCP) and the remaining 30% that PCP did not own in Wanooka Properties, which was owned by some directors and former directors of KPMG and KPMG Services.
The properties, which were currently tenanted by KPMG and KPMG Services, included the KPMG Crescent and skybridge just off Jan Smuts Avenue, in Johannesburg; Wanooka Place, in Parktown; and A-grade offices with on-site parking in Polokwane, Port Elizabeth and Secunda.
The transaction would see KPMG ink a new 15-year lease with Accelerate, effective September 1, 2014, with an initial rental of R64.5-million a year, with agreed staggered escalation rates starting at 8%.
The arrangement would ensure Accelerate improved its office vacancy rate from 9.4% to 7.4%, while extending more than 45% of the weighted average portfolio lease expiry beyond September 2018, said COO Andrew Costa.
The deal also hiked Accelerate’s combined portfolio value to more than R7-billion and provided exposure to a high-quality office portfolio.
The acquisition remained subject to approval by competition authorities approval and other conditions precedent.
Accelerate said it had access to a fully funded debt package to settle the buy-out.