Lereko Property

In March 2006 Lereko Property Company (Proprietary) Limited ("LPC"), a company formed by a consortium led by Lereko, concluded a transaction to acquire a 25% economic interest in Sappi's South African plantation land portfolio for an amount of R224 million through a vendor-financed mechanism. Sappi, a leading global pulp and paper business, owns approximately 380,000 hectares of forestry land across South Africa. A portion of this land is not viable for commercial forestry operations, therefore the opportunity exists to enhance the value of the land through development projects. LPC aims to identify and manage these projects and will have an exclusive right to participate, at its election, in all commercial property development initiatives on the land.

As part of Lereko's strategy of selecting broad based partners appropriate to each investment opportunity, the LPC consortium includes meaningful participation by Sappi employees through a Workers' Trust and a minor investment by Malibongwe Womens Development, a not-for-profit organisation focusing on the upliftment of women in South Africa.

Land is the basic building block for adding economic value and this transaction allows Lereko to draw on the team's diverse experience and skill to realise sustainable long-term projects that will unlock value for all stakeholders.