Greenacres can be sold

Cindy Preller

THE sale of Greenacres Shopping Centre in Port Elizabeth received the green light this week from the Competition Tribunal.

At a hearing on Wednesday, the tribunal approved the proposed merger between Acucap Properties and Sycom Property to purchase equal shares from Liberty Group in one of the city's biggest shopping centres.

Once the deal is implemented, Acucap and Sycom will together control Greenacres.

The popular shopping complex is being sold for R1.016-billion by Liberty Holdings for a 50% share each to Acucap and Sycom. Acucap also owns a 27.5% share in The Bridge, which is valued by Acucap at R143-million.

The Competition Tribunal said Acucap controlled Sycom and owned numerous office, retail and industrial spaces throughout South Africa.

"The commission assessed this deal and concluded it was unlikely to cause a significant lessening of competition in the market. It recommended the tribunal approve this acquisition without conditions, which it did."

Greenacres Shopping Centre manager Brent Starr could not comment on the deal yesterday.

Greenacres and The Bridge together comprise an 88000m² combined shopping mall, one of the major retail centres in the Eastern Cape.

When the sale was announced last year, Acucap managing director Paul Theodosiou said the new owners planned to expand the shopping centre to make it more user-friendly, adding more parking and modernising it.

The centre's management staff would be kept on, he said.

Other shareholders in The Bridge are the Johannesburg Municipal Pension Fund (54.5693%) and the Municipal Employees' Pension Fund (17.8675%). Acucap's share is 27.5632%.