| Wed 3 Oct 2007, 15:53 | | SAC - SA Corporate - SA Corporate Real Estate Fund |
|
SAC
SAC
SAC - SA Corporate - SA Corporate Real Estate Fund Refinances Debt
At Lower Rates
SA Corporate Real Estate Fund
(formerly Martprop Property Fund)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Share Code: SAC & ISIN Code: ZAE000083614
A Collective Investment Scheme in property registered in terms of the Collective
Investment Schemes Control Act, No. 45 of 2002 and managed by SA Corporate Real
Estate Fund Managers Limited
(formerly Marriott Property Fund Managers Limited)
(Registration number 1994/009895/06)
("SA Corporate")
SA CORPORATE REAL ESTATE FUND REFINANCES DEBT AT LOWER RATES
SA Corporate Real Estate Fund, managed by Old Mutual Investment Group Property
Investments (OMIGPI), has renegotiated its debt and reduced its effective cost
of funding by over 40 basis points.
Craig Ewin, CEO of SA Corporate and head of listed real estate at OMIGPI, says
the fund has secured facilities with Old Mutual Specialised Finance (OMSFIN) and
ABSA Bank to replace most of the current facilities.
He says the OMSFIN facility is for R1 billion at a current variable rate cost of
10.87%, while ABSA`S is a R700 million five-year facility at a current variable
rate cost of 10.9%. Both facilities have very competitive raising fees, he
says.
"The new facilities, added to the existing R100 million fix with Nedbank, will
give a total facility of R1.8 billion. Given that SA Corporate`s existing debt
level is only R950 million, 12% of asset value, this provides significant scope
for funding of acquisitions when appropriate," says Ewin.
"It is management`s intention to fix R700 million in the short term" says Ewin.
"On current fix rate quotes, this would result in a 42 basis point reduction off
the current cost of debt".
Ewin says the reduced cost of funding and high percentage fixing that will
result from the new facilities is in line with the view in a recent Investec
Securities report on investment strategy for South African property.
"The report presented a portfolio of listed real estate stocks suited to
differing interest rate environments and included SA Corporate at 15% of the
portfolio for rising interest rate environments."
Ends
Contact:
Craig Ewin: 083 441 0530
Date: 03/10/2007 15:53:10 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the
JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or
implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or
completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers,
employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature,
howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
