Equites Property Fund Limited (JSE:EQU) News - Accelerated book build and availability of investor presentation

EQUITES PROPERTY FUND LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 2013/080877/06)
Share code: EQU
Debt company code: EQUI
ISIN: ZAE000188843
(Approved as a REIT by the JSE)
(“Equites” or the “Group”)


ACCELERATED BOOK BUILD AND AVAILABILITY OF INVESTOR PRESENTATION


NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, 
CANADA, JAPAN OR ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH IT WOULD BE UNLAWFUL TO DO SO

Equites announces an equity raise targeting approximately R500 million to be implemented through an
accelerated book build process (the “book build”) subject to pricing acceptable to Equites.

The book build is now open and Equites reserves the right to close it at any time and to increase the size of
the equity raise subject to demand.

Pricing and allocations will be announced as soon as is reasonably practicable following the closing of the
book build.

The new shares, when issued, will be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with existing
shares.

TRANSACTIONAL UPDATE

Overview

The logistics property market continues to outperform globally, as the occupier demand for warehousing space
outstrips supply. The demand continues to be driven by supply chain optimisation, the shift from low-cost and
lean supply chains to resilient supply chains, onshoring of manufacturing, an increase in inventory levels as
well as the growth in e-commerce in most markets globally.

In South Africa, the last three months have delivered a significant uptick in market activity and demand for
A-grade warehousing space in the key geographical areas in which Equites currently operates, being
Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

On the back of the continued demand for warehousing space, Equites currently has a zero percent vacancy
rate across its SA portfolio of 1.3 million square meters. In addition to a fully let portfolio, Equites have
recently let two speculative builds in Gauteng, with a combined GLA of 20,000 m². Both agreements were
signed prior to practical completion of the buildings. The level of activity in the SA market has reinforced
Equites’ view that there is a significant amount of pent-up demand in a landscape where there has been a
limited supply of new product due to COVID-19. On this basis, Equites will continue to undertake limited
speculative developments in SA, which will comprise less than 2% of the total portfolio value.

The UK logistics market continues to be frenetic, as the surge in demand has not been met with the same level
of supply, resulting in a record-low national vacancy rate of 2.9%. In the East Midlands, a key region for the
development pipeline of Equites Newlands Group Limited (“ENGL”), the vacancy rate dropped to 1.69% at
the end of 2021, equating to only 0.19 years of supply. As a consequence of the strong property fundamentals
in the UK logistics market, national rental growth is expected to be between 8% and 11% for FY22, further
supporting the growth in property values.

South Africa - pipeline

Since the last reported results at 31 August 2021, the Group continued to focus on high-quality development
opportunities with blue-chip tenants in key logistics nodes in South Africa.

Ongoing developments include a flagship warehouse for Cargo Compass SA (R256 million), a new facility
for Nioro Plastics (R88 million), an extension to the Premier FMCG in Lords View (R97 million) and an
extension to TFG’s facility in Lords View (R198 million), which will all be completed during FY23.
Furthermore, Equites is in advanced stages of negotiating an agreement with a leading national retailer to build
a modern distribution facility with a GLA of 50,000 m². All of these developments are being executed on land
which Equites already controls and will unlock the value embedded in these parcels. The combined capital
expenditure on all of the development projects in SA amounts to c. R900 million over the next eighteen
months.

In addition to the transactions outlined above, Equites is also currently in the final stages of negotiating the
terms and conditions in respect of six further new developments across SA, which is estimated to add 300,000
m² of prime logistics space to the portfolio over the next four years, with a combined capital expenditure in
excess of R2 billion.

United Kingdom – pipeline

The Group estimates the pipeline of development opportunities within ENGL to exceed £1 billion (R20
billion) over the next five years, which provides Equites with the opportunity to continue building scale in the
top-end of the UK logistics market. ENGL continues to make significant progress with numerous schemes,
and it is expected to conclude several agreements on the plots controlled in the forthcoming months.

ENGL has successfully completed its first development in October 2021, which is a last-mile facility tenanted
by Amazon on a 15-year lease. The property has been independently valued £52.4 million, which is 35%
higher than the all-in development cost attributable to Equites, demonstrating the value creation of ENGL to
Equites shareholders.

The two schemes in Hoylands Common are progressing well; the Hermes development of £72 million
(R1.4 billion) is on budget and the property is expected to reach practical completion during 2Q 2022. For the
second scheme, detailed planning consent has recently been granted to develop two speculative buildings,
which will be sold to Arrow Capital Partners and will crystalise a profit attributable to Equites of £6 million
in 4Q 2022 (R120 million).

Outline planning has been received for Junction 24 and Coton Park and ENGL has submitted planning
applications for schemes in Basingstoke, Newport Pagnell and Thrapston. These five schemes will have the
potential to deliver in excess of 5 million sq ft (465,000 m²) of prime distribution warehouse space over the
next five years.

An overview of the Equites business and further details on the intended use of funds raised pursuant to the
book build is available at https://www.equites.co.za/investor-community/investors-documentation/.
Java Capital is acting as bookrunner.

Java Capital contact details:

 Andrew Brooking                         Thys de Beer
 equites@javacapital.co.za               equites@javacapital.co.za
 Tel: (083) 642 0113                     Tel: (083) 351 7683

17 February 2022


Bookrunner and sponsor
Java Capital

Debt sponsor
Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking,
a division of Nedbank Limited



The equity raising is not an offer to the public as contemplated under the South African Companies Act, No.71
of 2008 as amended (“Companies Act”), nor an offer of securities in any other jurisdiction. Participation in
the equity raise is reserved for invited investors only and subject to the terms and conditions provided to the
invited investors. Potential investors are only permitted to apply for shares with a minimum total acquisition
cost, per single addressee acting as principal, of greater than or equal to ZAR1 000 000, unless the potential
investor is a person, acting as principal, whose ordinary business, or part of whose ordinary business, is to
deal in securities, whether as principal or agent (in reliance on Section 96(1)(a)(i) and 96(1)(b) of the
Companies Act) or such applicant falls within one of the other specified categories of persons listed in section
96(1) of the Companies Act.

This announcement is not for publication or distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in the United States
of America (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of
Columbia).

This announcement does not constitute or form part of an offer or solicitation of an offer to purchase or
subscribe for securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have
not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”), and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the United States, absent registration or an
exemption from, or transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. No public
offering of securities is being made in the United States. Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be
taken, transmitted or distributed, directly or indirectly in or into the United States, Canada, Australia or
Japan.

This announcement is for information purposes only and in member states of the European Economic Area
(other than the United Kingdom) is directed only at persons who are qualified investors (as defined in article
2(1)(e) of EU directive 2003/71/EC (the “Prospectus Directive”) and the relevant implementing rules and
regulations adopted by each Member State). In the United Kingdom, this announcement is directed only at
the following persons: investment professionals falling within article 19(5) of the Financial Services and
Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”); and high net worth entities, and other
persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order.

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of Equites. No representation or warranty
express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be
accepted by Java Capital or by any of their respective affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy
or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly
available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Date: 17-02-2022 08:02:00
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.