Morné Wilken, CEO of Attacq Limited.
Attacq on Wednesday, 1 July 2015, announced a strategic restructure of its board with Louis van der Watt becoming a non-executive director of the company, having previously acted as an executive director. In addition, Brett Nagle joins the board as non-executive director, representing significant Attacq shareholder Royal Bafokeng Holdings (“RBH”) and Wilhelm Nauta is now considered to be an independent non-executive director.
These changes to its board enhance Attacq’s corporate governance and leadership structure.
Morné Wilken, CEO of Attacq, comments: “Our new board structure furthers our commitment to excellent corporate governance and compliance, and ensures our strong position for the future.”
As part of the Attacq listing on the JSE in October 2013, Van der Watt, who is CEO of Atterbury Property Holdings, committed to serve as an executive director of Attacq until 30 June 2015.
Wilken says: “Louis played a central role in the growth and listing of Attacq on the JSE. We thank him for his invaluable contribution to establishing Attacq and his commitment to ensuring continuity of management and the transfer of knowledge and skills in an executive capacity during our early years. We look forward to continuing our valued relationship with Louis in his new role as non-executive director of Attacq and his continued service on Attacq’s Investment Committee. Attacq will continue to enjoy the ongoing benefit of Louis’ wealth of property and business expertise. Of course, given Atterbury’s role as Waterfall’s developer and Atterbury’s 20% stake in the Mall of Africa, our interaction will be as frequent as in the past.”
Joining the Attacq board from 1 July 2015, Brett Nagle is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in investment banking, corporate finance and mining. Nagle is the head of investments at RBH and also serves as a non-executive director of Impala Platinum.
“We welcome Brett and believe he will add significant value to Attacq,” says Wilken.
In addition, Wilken notes that Attacq’s board now considers Wilhelm Nauta an independent non-executive director, because he is no longer a representative of RBH.
Attacq is a leading JSE-listed property capital growth fund. Its business has two focus areas: investments and developments. Its investments comprise completed buildings held directly and indirectly. Its developments comprise land, greenfields development of land or brownfields development by refurbishment of existing buildings. Attacq’s investments provide stable income and balance sheet strength to responsibly secure and fund high-growth opportunities within developments.
Attacq’s assets comprise landmark commercial and retail property assets and developments. Its portfolio of properties is geographically diverse across South Africa and includes a growing representation of international investments in sub-Saharan Africa with a 31.25% shareholding in Att Africa, and exposure to property investment in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom via a strategic 45.4% shareholding in JSE-listed MAS Real Estate Inc.
Attacq’s prestigious Waterfall development continues to expand and provides Attacq with an attractive 15 year pipeline. The new CBD of Waterfall, Waterfall City would be anchored by the 131 000m2 Mall of Africa due to open in April 2016. A number of corporates have already committed to Waterfall, including Massmart, PwC, Novartis, Cummins, Schneider, Cipla, Honda, Cell C, Group 5, Premier Foods, Covidien, Westcon, Altech and Servest.
“The fantastic location of Waterfall and our ability to provide the space for corporates to consolidate their premises into a single regional office has been a strong driver behind the growth of Waterfall’s office portfolio,” says Wilken.