V&A Waterfront Sale Finalised

Category General

V&A Waterfront sale finalised 10 Jun 2011 The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, has been sold to Growthpoint Properties, the Government Employees’ Pension Fund and the Public Investment Corporation. All the conditions for the transaction have been met. The V&A was bought for R9,7-billion by the group of investors and the money for the transaction has been paid. Confirmation of the transaction comes just days after Neill Bernstein of New York-based property company Devland Holdings lodged an urgent High Court application for fees owed by the previous owners Dubai World and the new joint owners of the property. Norbert Sasse, chief executive of Growthpoint says he does not know what the basis of Devland’s claim is and he says that all monies have been paid and a share certificate for the property has been issued. Sasse says that the V&A will now be expanded and further developments at the site are about to get underway. The area comprises 603 868 sqm of bulk area, and development rights for the land have been approved by the City of Cape Town. He says the previous owners had not been dedicated to developing the site and that none of the plans for the V&A had materialised. He conceded that it was too early to outline the exact nature of the expansion plans but emphasised that the company has the residential, office and retail development rights to improve the area. Growthpoint has a 50% stake in the V&A Waterfront and the company controls assets worth about R40-billion. It is the largest listed property company in the country and is included in the JSE’s Top 40 index.