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# Burstone is moving 14 malls and warehouses into a new fund, and Nedbank is the first to buy in
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/burstone-sa-core-plus-platform-nedbank/
- Published: 2026-09-29T08:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-29T08:11:58.000Z
- Description: The JSE property group will keep half of a R5.4 billion portfolio and run it for fees, a model it already uses in Europe and Australia.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

Burstone makes most of its money the old-fashioned property way, by collecting rent, and it has just taken a big step towards earning fees instead. The JSE-listed group, called Investec Property Fund until two years ago, is packaging 14 of its South African properties into a new vehicle called the SA Core Plus platform, with Nedbank Property Partners as the first outside investor.

The buildings stay where they are; what changes is who owns them. Burstone keeps half and stays on as both fund manager, running the vehicle, and asset manager, running the buildings. Nedbank comes in alongside it, Burstone is talking to another big institutional investor for a second round, and the vehicle is built so more investors can join later, with everyone's slice shrinking a little to make room.

The portfolio is worth about R5.4 billion and holds five retail properties and nine industrial and logistics ones. On the retail side it includes Zevenwacht Mall in the Western Cape, Kriel Mall in Mpumalanga and two malls in the Free State.

## Less debt on the books, more fees coming in

The deal releases about R4.5 billion of capital. Burstone says that gives it room to fund its growth, including the money it needs for its first-loss obligations on its European logistics platform, where it has agreed to take the first hit if things go wrong.

The bigger change is to its debt. Burstone's debt measured against the value of its property is expected to fall from close to 40% to below 20%. Count its share of the debt inside the platforms it co-owns, and the fall is far smaller, from just under half to a little over 40%.

The fee side grows at the same time. Fees are expected to make up 19.3% of revenue, up from 15.5% at the end of March, and the property Burstone manages for other investors rises to R26.8 billion. Burstone expects the deal to add to its earnings.

## A model borrowed from Europe and Australia

This is new for South Africa, but not for Burstone. In Europe it manages a logistics-focused platform in which it keeps a 20% stake, worth about €1 billion in total, and in Australia it is an equal partner with the Irongate Group in a portfolio worth A$1.4 billion. Chief executive Andrew Wooler has said the local fund would be a first for South Africa, whose capital market for property is relatively shallow, and that institutional partners could bring a "significant amount of firepower" to buy good property across the country.

The Competition Commission still has to approve the deal, and the second investor Burstone is courting has not yet been named.