GIAP, established as a joint venture between Growthpoint Properties and Investec Asset Management, announced today that it has successfully concluded the acquisition of 100% of Manda Hill Shopping Centre (Manda Hill), a prime shopping centre in Lusaka, Zambia.

This transaction follows the recently announced acquisition of Achimota Retail Centre in Ghana, which was acquired approximately a month ago. The acquisition of Manda Hill marks the second key acquisition for the business and forms part of a pipeline of assets currently being negotiated for acquisition by GIAP. Manda Hill, located in central Lusaka, includes approximately 42,000sqm of retail space occupied by more than 120 retailers, including prominent tenants such as Shoprite, Game, Woolworths, Ackermans and Mr Price.

GIAP expects to announce progress regarding further acquisitions in due course.

In 2018, GIAP secured capital commitments of more than US$212 million from several large institutional and international investors. Given the current pipeline of assets under discussion, GIAP’s capital is expected to be fully invested by the end of 2019, with property investments focussed on the office and retail sectors.

Manda Hill has been acquired from AttAfrica, a joint venture of JSE-listed REITs Attacq Limited and Hyprop Investments Limited, and certain minority shareholders.

Thomas Reilly, MD of Growthpoint Investec African Property Management, says, “GIAP has successfully acquired Manda Hill, an asset which is widely regarded in the industry as a benchmark and that we believe is considered to be one of the top-performing retail assets on the African continent. The asset was originally developed roughly two decades ago and has matured over this time, demonstrating resilience to differing market cycles.”

Reilly adds, “We are excited to again take advantage of a highly attractive entry-point into another key city which we believe has the potential to offer strong growth prospects. This acquisition extends our very considered asset acquisition strategy, resulting in the well-timed addition of another quality yielding asset to the portfolio at a competitive price. The business is enjoying significant momentum, and we expect this to aid in the delivery of sustainable long-term investor returns.”

GIAP is expected to support the development of capital markets for real estate as an asset class across the countries in which it operates, thereby contributing to the wide-ranging developmental impact which the real estate sector can have in such markets.