September 23 2026 12:00
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Thirty years after Steve Brookes founded Balwin Properties, the company today begins its next phase as a privately owned business.
After almost 11 years on the JSE and three and a half years on A2X, Balwin enters private ownership with its founder management team remaining invested and operationally involved alongside the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), acting on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
The delisting follows the implementation of the R2.26bn take-private transaction, which received overwhelming shareholder support, with 98.48% of eligible votes cast in favour of the scheme. The transaction provides eligible shareholders with R4.35 per share in cash, paid on 21 September 2026, while Balwin’s founding investors remain invested alongside the PIC.
Founder and CEO Steve Brookes said the change in ownership does not signal a change in either Balwin’s leadership or the principles on which the business has been built.
“I founded Balwin 30 years ago and remain as committed to the business today as I was then. Balwin’s Managing Director, Rodney Gray and I are reinvesting because we believe in Balwin, our people, our development pipeline and the opportunity ahead. Our management team remains in place, invested and operationally involved.”
Balwin’s years as a listed company played an important role in its development from a founder-led residential developer into a large institutional business. During that period, the company strengthened its governance, financial discipline, reporting standards, internal controls, risk management, Board oversight and accountability.
Those disciplines will remain embedded in the business under private ownership.
“Being listed made Balwin a better company,” Brookes said. “The governance, discipline and accountability that came with being a listed company are now part of the way we operate.”
During its listed years, Balwin delivered approximately 26,000 apartments to homeowners, generated R28.3bn in revenue from apartment sales and returned almost R1bn to shareholders through dividend distributions. The company also completed its 100th residential development in 2025.
Balwin also materially advanced its environmental leadership during this period. By February 2026, 27,825 apartments had received international EDGE certification, including more than 20,000 to the EDGE Advanced standard. Ten lifestyle centres and the Balwin head office had achieved Six-Star Green ratings, while Balwin became the first South African company to have both a science-based emissions-reduction target and a net-zero commitment approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.
The transaction brings long-term domestic institutional capital from the PIC, acting for the GEPF, alongside founder-management and other reinvesting shareholders. Existing management remains operationally involved, while the new ownership structure provides Balwin with capital resources, strategic networks and a longer investment horizon aligned with the nature of its development pipeline.
These achievements were supported by Balwin’s people, partners and shareholders. The company paid tribute to the institutional and retail investors who backed the business during its listed years.
Brookes said many had backed Balwin through an important period of growth and helped shape the business it is today. Several institutional investors had expressed disappointment at Balwin leaving the public market while recognising the rationale for the transaction and the opportunity it creates for the company’s long-term growth.
Balwin will continue with the development model that has underpinned its growth, complemented by its annuity business and an emerging build-to-rent platform that remains at an early stage of development.
The company will also continue its social and community development work through the Beyond Bricks Foundation.
Brookes said the focus now turns firmly to what comes next.
“We have 30 years behind us, an experienced management team, strong long-term shareholders and significant opportunity still ahead. We remain proudly South African and completely committed to continuing to build this business,” said Brookes.
247@propertyflash.co.za
