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Telkom properties to go under the hammer

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 04 Nov 2019

Telecommunications company Telkom is auctioning 34 properties across South Africa.

This was announced by auction company GoIndustry, which says the sale will be conducted online.

According to GoIndustry, the online auction of Telkom’s 34-property real estate portfolio, located nationwide, consists of vacant land and single-storey buildings.

It says bidders and participants who wish to take part in the auction are required to register online prior to the event.

Gyro manages Telkom’s property portfolio, which consists of 1 332 properties, comprising exchange and switch, office, client service centre, centre for learning buildings, radio transmission sites and residential dwellings.

“Registration and approval of your bidding status is subject to completion of the registration form, submission of your FICA documents, declaration of interest and authority, as well as consent to perform credit bureau profile verification, and upon receiving proof of payment of the R10 000 which is a refundable deposit and may be payable by a bank-guaranteed cheque or electronic funds transfer,” says GoIndustry.

“Bidders are advised to make themselves aware of all property features, including but not limited to, the property information packs which include the specific offer to purchase for each property, known defects list, title deed and zoning,” it adds.

The auction comes after Telkom, in its results for the year ended 31 March, delivered a solid performance, with group operating revenue increasing by 5.3%, driven by the stellar performance of the mobile business.

In its integrated report, Telkom group CEO Sipho Maseko said: “Our strategy to separate our property and mast and tower portfolio to increase management focus and unlock value for the group is bearing fruit.

“Gyro’s external revenue grew by 24.2% and the mast and tower tenants grew by 10.5% compared to FY2018.”

On its property portfolio, Telkom said: “We are assessing each of the group’s 1 332 properties to determine the best use. Development planning is under way for selected properties with development potential. We conducted market research for most of the selected properties to identify supportable property segments per site.

“We continue adding suitable properties to the development pipeline and commence with the rezoning and development planning process to prepare the properties for re-development. We continued rationalising the Telkom property portfolio and started with Telkom regional centres in major cities.

“Telkom business units will be consolidated into regional offices and operational/warehoused building centres. This will lead to greater productivity and efficiencies among business units and will optimise occupancy expenses at the regional level.”

The company also indicated it is decommissioning 62 exchange properties that are no longer fit for operational purpose.

“We will sell decommissioned properties if they do not meet development criteria or other strategic uses. We continue to aggressively assess buildings and properties in the portfolio to identify assets that are no longer required for operational purposes that we can either redevelop or sell, thereby reducing occupancy costs while generating revenue.”

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