Atterbury Europe and Pareto Limited, a key shareholder, have reached an agreement for a shareholder transaction.
As part of this arrangement, Pareto aims to exchange a portion of its debt exposure in Atterbury Europe for a direct stake in the Mall of Cyprus and the Mall of Engomi.
Headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands, Atterbury Europe was established in 2014 out of Atterbury Property South Africa that has a 30-year track record of developing and managing retail and commercial assets.
Pareto is an unlisted real estate investment company, that in addition to its investment in Atterbury Europe, develops, owns, manages, and operates super regional, regional shopping centres and mixed development complexes in South Africa.
Pareto is owned by Africa’s largest pension fund and has a property portfolio of €2 billion gross.
“For us it made sense for our geographical expansion into Europe in 2019, to joint venture with fellow South Africans already set up in Europe. With our direct investment into the Mall of Cyprus and Mall of Engomi now, we will essentially be replicating the model already well established at the Atterbury Europe level,” said Pareto Limited’s CEO, Malose Kekana.
The transaction is set to deleverage Atterbury Europe’s balance sheet and as a result facilitate further growth such as the proposed new Mall of Limassol development.
The Mall of Cyprus and the Mall of Engomi in turn will benefit from a strong “shareholder of reference” in Pareto, it said.
Although Atterbury Europe’s shareholding interest in the Mall of Cyprus and the Mall of Engomi will be diluted by the transaction to 30%, Atterbury Europe and the existing local management team will continue their hands-on management of the daily operations of the assets in close cooperation with their tenants and valued customers.
"This transaction enables us to do more in Cyprus, not less. We will continue to render property and asset management to the Mall of Cyprus and the Mall of Engomi. Therefore, we will continue our relationships with tenants, banks and all other stakeholders of the companies and at the same time have a stronger balance sheet to support growth," said Henk Deist, CEO of Atterbury Europe.
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