Table of Contents
Key Points
- Accelerate raises $5.57 million through a fully underwritten rights offer to shore up working capital and fund upgrades at Fourways Mall.
- Investec backs the offer, while underwriter picks up $1.03 million in leftover shares after certificated shareholders opt out.
- Debt concerns persist as unresolved $44.72 million claim linked to Georgiou’s affiliated firms continues to cloud the REIT’s recovery outlook.
Accelerate Property Fund, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and partly owned by South African property mogul Michael Georgiou, has secured R100 million ($5.57 million) through a fully underwritten rights offer.
The funding will help strengthen the company’s working capital and support much-needed upgrades at Fourways Mall, its flagship asset.
The capital raise, first announced on May 30, 2025, involved issuing 250 million new shares at R0.40 each to existing shareholders. The shares were offered on a renounceable basis, with a ratio of roughly 13.92 new shares for every 100 shares held as of July 11, 2025.
The offer was fully backed—Investec Bank Limited subscribed to its full share, while K2016336084 (South Africa) Proprietary Limited picked up the remaining 46,067,881 shares, investing R18.43 million ($1.03 million).
Liquidity lifeline amid unresolved debt
The rights offer comes at a critical time for the REIT, which is under pressure from rising debt and falling property values. Although questions remain about outstanding claims linked to related-party entities tied to Michael Georgiou, the R100 million ($5.57 million) raise shows that some investors still have faith in the company’s turnaround plans.
The company described the offer as an important move in its broader effort to steady operations and revive Fourways Mall, where both rental income and occupancy have fallen short of expectations. Investec Bank followed through on its commitment by taking up its full share of the offer, while the underwriter stepped in to cover the rest after certificated shareholders opted out. The funds will go toward much-needed upgrades at Fourways and help support day-to-day operations as the REIT works through a tough and uncertain property market.
Debt cloud still looms
The fresh capital raise follows Accelerate Property Fund’s R200 million ($27.9 million) injection in 2023, highlighting the REIT’s ongoing struggle with liquidity. Analysts say the pressure won’t ease unless Accelerate reaches a new agreement with companies linked to its founder, Michael Georgiou. Without one, the REIT may have to write off the full R800 million ($44.72 million) it’s owed—an outcome that would hit earnings hard for the year ending March 2025.
That risk stems from a failed debt-restructuring deal signed in November 2023. The agreement, which aimed to combine debts owed by Azrapart and related entities, fell apart earlier this year. Since then, Accelerate has been weighing its legal options to recover the funds.
Money moves, but questions still linger
Georgiou, a board member at Accelerate, has come under growing pressure to sort out financial issues tied to his wider property dealings. In May 2023, he sold R56.9 million ($3.18 million) worth of shares in the company to settle a loan from Investec, cutting his personal stake from 29 percent to 21 percent.
Although a recent rights issue has helped ease some of that pressure, bigger problems remain. The key question now is how Accelerate will handle the unresolved legal and financial claims linked to Georgiou’s network of affiliated businesses—and whether it can finally get Fourways Mall to deliver steady, reliable
