Balwin Properties, developer of apartment estates such as De-Aanzicht estate.in Milnerton, Cape Town, is considering an offer to delist from the JSE, and partner with the Public Investment Corporation on its next growth phase.
“The PIC (Public Investment Corporation) needed a home builder, there is a (large) number of people who need homes and we were a good investment case,” is how Balwin Properties founder and CEO Steve Brookes described the initial approach by the government pension fund's asset manager.
Business Report interviewed Brookes on Wednesday after JSE-listed Balwin Properties announced it had received a R1.21 billion offer from a consortium of founding investors and the PIC, to acquire all the shares in Balwin for R4.35 a share in cash.
Brookes said the PIC approached them about a potential investment, and if the scheme of arrangement was implemented, the PIC would hold about 49% of Balwin in the private ownership structure, a percentage that might increase further as a black empowerment component still needed to be bedded down.
Shareholders holding 63.5% of the shares have undertaken to support the buyout offer that will see Balwin delisted from the JSE and A2X. The offer values Balwin’s shares at about R2.26bn and gives eligible shareholders opportunity to realise cash value at a premium to recent trading levels, he said.
