Attacq oversubscribed for exciting debut on JSE
Institutional investors fail to receive desired share allocations
THE 17th property company to list on the JSE in the past three years had one of the most exciting listings for the exchange in a while yesterday, with 3,769,585 shares worth R63m trading. Attacq, a property development fund, opened at R17 a share and then settled at R16.61 by the end of trade. Attacq is a South African real-estate fund with assets of R13.35bn. Its private placement price before listing was R15 per share and was many times oversubscribed prior to listing.
THE 17th property company to list on the JSE in the past three years had one of the most exciting listings for the exchange in a while yesterday, with 3,769,585 shares worth R63m trading.
Attacq, a property development fund, opened at R17 a share and then settled at R16.61 by the end of trade yesterday.
Attacq is a South African real estate fund with assets of R13.35bn. Its private placement price before listing was at R15 per share and was many times oversubscribed prior to listing.
Attacq raised R800m through its private placement last week.
“Listing Attacq will create a foundation to grow the business further. It enables Attacq to access capital efficiently, raise its profile and expand its investor base, all of which should enhance the company’s prospects,” Attacq CEO Morné Wilken said at the listing celebration held at the JSE yesterday.
Attacq’s portfolio includes Waterfall Business Estate in Midrand, Garden Route Mall in George, Eikestad Mall in Stellenbosch and Lynnwood Bridge in Pretoria. The company holds a 25% shareholding in Atterbury Property Holdings, a private development company, and a 32.5% shareholding in the Mauritius-based Atterbury Africa, an investment company focused on developing shopping centres in Africa outside of SA.
With a focus on capital growth rather than income, Attacq listed in the JSE’s real estate sector and would not seek real estate investment trust (Reit) status. Attacq would not pay distributions for a few years after listing.
Various analysts believe Attacq’s strong management team and portfolio have a very high chance of success.
Attacq delivered an average compound return of 20.62% to shareholders since inception eight years ago.
“I think it was a successful listing in terms of price, and was engineered to be so. It left something on the table for the investors,” Evan Robins of the Old Mutual Investment Group of SA said.
But he said institutional investors were disappointed because, due to the high level of interest, they did not receive meaningful allocations of shares.
“We would have preferred a much larger placement. R17 is an aggressive price,” he said.
The JSE was happy to see Attacq list.
“We’re very pleased to welcome Attacq on to the JSE. This is a much-anticipated listing in a sector that has enjoyed good growth in the past years as Africa’s property development needs expand.
“It’s a sector that is well understood by both local and international investors,” the JSE’s director of issuer and investor relations, Zeona Jacobs, said.
Other property listings for this year have included Tower Property Fund in July and GoGlobal Properties in April.
Ms Jacobs said the property sector’s growth was driven partly by the global search for sustainable income streams. The JSE’s real estate sector now has 46 listed property companies accounting for just over 4% of overall JSE market capitalisation.
The listed property section has grown from R19bn at the end of September 2003 to R177.2bn at the end of September this year.
SA is ranked second in the world for the ability of local companies to raise capital through its equity market, according to the recently released World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2013-14.
In the latest report, the country moved up one place from last year’s ranking.