Nicola Mawson
Listed infrastructure company, Aveng, has sold the remaining stake it held in Dimopoint, a special purpose vehicle of 35 properties made up of light and heavy industrial portfolio located throughout South Africa, in line with its strategy of selling non-core assets.
In a statement to shareholders yesterday, Aveng said it had sold the 30% stake it had been holding on to since 2015 to Collins Property Group for R96 million, effective December 2. This follows the deal, almost a decade ago, which saw it sell 70% of the entity to Collins via its Imbali Props 21 unit.
The value of the deal is below that of the fair value attributable to the Dimopoint investment as at June 30, which was R142m. The fair value of the provisions and lease liabilities, net of corresponding lease receivables was R130m at the same time.
Aveng group companies had been tenants in the buildings.
JSE-listed Collins, which has been in existence since 1904, is a commercial property development and investment group that has a portfolio worth some R11.5 billion across Southern Africa and Europe.
Aveng, which secured R150m in profit from the sale of its 70% stake in 2015, said the proceeds from the sale of its minority holding will be used to strengthen its financial position and also allow it to “focus on delivering its strategy of improving shareholder value through increased focus on its operating brands of McConnell Dowell, Built Environs and Moolmans”.
The deal will improve earnings before tax by about R82m, it said yesterday. Aveng added that dividends from the unit for the year to the end of June came in at R31m. For the year to June, Aveng reported revenue up 27% in Australian dollars to A$3.1bn, or R36.6bn. Headline earnings gained more than 100%.
Aveng unit Moolmans has entered a lease with Dimopoint for the property that it occupies on substantially the same terms and conditions. The termination of non-core leases is expected to result in a modest future cost saving, it said. - Nicola Mawson
BUSINESS REPORT