May 28 2025 14:45
Spear Reit, the only Western Cape focused JSE-listed fund, has acquired Berg River Business Park, a 30,000m² multi-let industrial park in Paarl.
The asset was acquired for R182.150m, with an initial yield to the Spear platform of 9.35%. The transaction will be settled via a Section 42 asset-for-share arrangement, with the sellers receiving the full value of their equity in Spear shares.
Located at 46 Distillery Street, along the Berg River in the Drakenstein Municipality, the Berg River Business Park serves a mix of tenants across the food, agriculture, wine, and clothing sectors. The area forms part of a growing industrial node in the Western Cape and benefits from its proximity to the N1 highway, enhancing logistical efficiency for its tenants.
Key Features of the Berg River Business Park include strategic access for tenants. The park has impressive proximity to major routes, including Lady Grey Street and the N1 highway. The park features 24-hour security, CCTV surveillance, and electric fencing.
The park is energy efficient with solar power generation capacity, which reduces energy costs, and reduces the environmental impact. It has power supply capacity of 3,500 kVA and full load-shedding redundancy. It is also equipped with high-capacity fibre-optic infrastructure.
The park’s industrial units are designed with high clearance, modern amenities, and ample yard areas to support various operational requirements.
“One of the advantages of Spear’s Western Cape focus is that the entire province presents investment opportunities. This high-quality acquisition marks our entry into the Paarl real estate market and our first investment in the well-established industrial node of Paarl Industrial. We are very pleased with the asset type, the tenant mix, and the solid rental growth prospects that this food and agri-logistics park brings to the core Spear portfolio,” said Spear’s CEO Quintin Rossi.
The acquisition marks Spear’s continued strategy to grow its portfolio in high-performing nodes across the Western Cape, with a particular focus on assets that offer income resilience and long-term capital appreciation potential.
Spear was founded in 2011 as a private equity real estate investment business focusing on owning Western Cape assets with a Cape Town preference. The founders of Spear are Mike Flax, Abu Varachhia and Rossi. They have have propelled Spear from a private equity fund to a JSE listed Reit. Rossi is supported by a highly competent executive team consisting of Chief Financial Officer, Christiaan Barnard, Chief Investment Officer, Kim Pfaff-Karg and Chief Operations Officer, Cliff Toerien.
Toerien, Rossi, Pfaff-Karg and Barnard
Spear achieves specialisation through its focused regional investments, while its diversification strategy is driven by investing across a variety of asset types. Since being listed on the JSE in November 2016 with assets valued at R1.4bn, Spear has grown significantly with a focus on only investing in assets that provide reliable income returns. Year-to-date, Spear’s current portfolio is valued at R5.5bn comprising a mix of commercial, industrial, retail, and mixed-use properties in the Westen Cape including Cape Town and George. No competitors have been able to come close to replicating Spear’s success.
Spear is a fully internally managed Reit conducting all asset, property, financial and development management in-house. Spear owns the iconic No. 2 Long Street in Cape Town which is where its head office is located.
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