Freedom Property Fund today confirmed that it will list on the main board of the JSE on Thursday, 12 June 2014, under the share code “FDP”.
Freedom Property Fund CEO, Tyrone Govender
The listing is aimed at unlocking investor access to the South African residential property market. The fund’s diverse portfolio, however, includes residential, commercial and industrial property assets of R1,56 billion.
Freedom will debut on the JSE under the “Real Estate – Real Estate Holdings and Development” sector, introducing a distinctive property capital growth investment proposition to the market. It will list with an initial market capitalisation of R1 billion.
Tyrone Govender, CEO of Freedom Property Fund, says: “Freedom is a capital growth fund, but what makes it unique is that it will also provide shareholders with the prospect of participating in a diverse portfolio of property assets.”
“We are looking forward to listing on the JSE’s main board on 12 June as the newest property fund on Africa’s leading stock exchange. Freedom will have a strong weighting in the high-demand, selective residential property segments which has considerable growth potential and are forecast to generate significant rental incomes. We aim to take advantage of the limited access for investors to the listed residential property industry in South Africa.”
In 2012, Freedom began identifying viable properties and projects with excellent prospects in areas with proven, sustainable demand. The vendors of these properties became Freedom’s first investors. Listing on the JSE will provide a platform to secure the capital and property expertise necessary to optimise the development its property portfolio as well as unlock value and new opportunities.
“With access to funding becoming increasingly challenging to secure in the current economic environment, it is Freedom’s strategy to provide a vehicle through which property owners can secure the necessary development funding,” says Govender.
Freedom’s focus on long-term sustainable capital growth differentiates it from investments such as REITs that mainly focus on income distribution. This makes it a defensive investment relative to REITs in the current property cycle.
Freedom’s assets comprise income-yielding properties and developments across the office, industrial and residential property sectors. Its yielding properties include Steelpoort Industrial Park in Limpopo, Wespark Palms in the Free State and Stellenbosch Industrial in the Western Cape. This is complemented by a secured pipeline of five commercial developments, nine residential rental property developments and two residential sale property developments, as well as a long-term development pipeline in decentralised areas throughout South Africa.
Freedom’s executive team includes CEO Govender, a former executive director of Growthpoint Properties who has gained 18 years of listed property experience. Freedom Chief Financial Officer, Richard Eaton, is a chartered accountant with some 40 years’ experience, specialising in management consulting to multinationals across industries and financial services.
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