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Accelerate Property Fund, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) partly owned by South African property mogul Michael Georgiou, has parted ways with its longtime board member and former chief executive, after shareholders rejected his bid to return to the board.
At the company’s annual general meeting on Oct. 15, more than 97 percent of shareholders rejected Georgiou’s reappointment to the board. The outcome ends a long chapter for a founder who helped set up the fund in 2013 and guided it through its JSE listing.
Shareholders push back
The vote followed months of growing tension around the debt problems at Fourways Mall and Georgiou’s uneasy relationship with lenders and investors, leading to a departure that draws a line under years in which Accelerate’s fortunes were tied to his family’s private company, Azrapart (Pty) Ltd, which co-owns the mall.
In June 2025, the Bloemfontein High Court placed Azrapart under business rescue after it defaulted on R2.3 billion ($132.82 million) owed to Investec and RMB, a unit of FirstRand Group, following the collapse of Georgiou’s refinancing plan.
Accelerate’s largest shareholder, linked to Cape Town’s iGroup, holding about 46 percent of the company, is understood to have voted against Georgiou’s return. With less than 3 percent of shareholders backing him, he had little room to stay.
Fourways Mall’s costly rebuild amid waning influence
The fallout centers on Fourways Mall’s R9 billion ($519.7 million) redevelopment—once pitched as Johannesburg’s next retail landmark but hit by budget overruns, delays, and the pandemic slump.
In 2024, Accelerate handed mall operations to Flanagan & Gerard and the Moolman Group, sidelining Azrapart. That same year, the REIT struck a R799 million ($46.14 million) settlement with Georgiou’s firms to offset debts through property and parking assets, but the deal later collapsed after repeated delays.
Accelerate still faces about R800 million ($46.2 million) in receivables linked to Azrapart. To strengthen its balance sheet, the fund raised R100 million ($5.78 million) in July 2025 through a rights issue backed by Investec and iGroup.
As creditors tightened pressure, Investec and RMB seized Georgiou’s pledged shares, cutting his stake from 29 percent in early 2024 to roughly 4 percent by March 2025 effectively ending his control of the company he helped create.
A turn toward institutional control
Georgiou’s exit marks a shift for Accelerate, toward stronger governance and less reliance on founder-linked entities. Accelerate CEO Abri Schneider on Friday called the move “a sad conclusion,” noting that Georgiou helped create the fund when his family’s property portfolio was listed in 2013. Georgiou still holds about 4 percent of the company.
With professional managers now at the helm, Accelerate is working to rebuild trust and clean up its balance sheet. Whether that will restore investor confidence and unlock value at Fourways Mall remains to be seen, but for the first time, the company is moving on without its founder.
