19 Jul 2010 09:30
19 July 2010
South African Property Opportunities plc
("SAPRO", the "Company")
STRATEGIC REVIEW
The Board of Directors of South African Property Opportunities plc is pleased to announce that it has completed the final stage of the strategic review that the Board commenced in 2009. The Board's focus was a comprehensive evaluation of Company assets with the objective of reaching a conclusion as to the best method of delivering value from the Company's portfolio for shareholders.
As part of this evaluation, the Board considered each of the sixteen development properties and with respect to each property, the state of the planning rights, the strengths and capabilities of JV partners, the availability of utilities, primarily electricity, the outlook by sector, the estimated time to completion, the structure of funding, the carrying cost of land and the financial feasibility of development.
Based on these criteria, the Board determined that the portfolio could be segmented into twenty-three assets because properties could be subdivided based on different opportunities. The Board further determined that these twenty-three assets should be further segmented into two groups- those that will be the subject of an orderly sale and those that are deemed an interim hold. The overriding consideration in making this categorization is whether, in the Board's view, assets present an expected value appreciation over the next three years sufficient to justify the associated holding costs. Assets that fall into the interim hold category are those assets that the Board believes have a realistic potential for upside over and above the forecast sale values by way of either higher land values or development profits depending on market conditions at the time. Fourteen assets fall into the orderly sale category while nine assets fall into the intermediate hold category. The Board's present intention regarding the assets in the orderly sale category is to return sale proceeds to shareholders as soon as practicable following sale. As part of the review process, the Board has closely reviewed the valuations of all assets in the Company's portfolio and is comfortable with those valuations under either scenario.
The Board expects to implement this strategy with the help of an external manager to replace the current manager, who was given notice last year. The current management contract will terminate on 20 October 2010. The Board expects a further announcement as to the successor manager prior to that date.
For further information, please contact:
Paul Fincham
Matrix Corporate Capital LLP
+44 (0)20 3206 7175
Tim McCall/Lucinda Kemeny
Hogarth
+44 (0)20 7357 9477