Corporate Governance
Investments
SA REITs are required to pay at least 75% of their distributable income as a dividend each financial year.
properties in Europe. JSE- listed Attacq was formed by Atterbury as its core listed SA focused fund and also had a stake in MAS, but it has since sold most of its shares to PKI. The formation of MAS was promising but soon it faced problems. MAS, which was based in the Isle of Man, had a problem with its first CEO, Lukas Nakos , Co-Founder, Nakos left at the end of December 2017 following a scandal. He had headed a company called the Louis Group in the Isle of Man which collapsed, losing investors hundreds of millions of rands. He managed to escape prosecution by turning state witness. He was declared a delinquent director and banned from operating as a director in the Isle of Man for several years. He was then replaced by former Attacq CEO Morné Wilken in January 2018. His was a brief stint, however. Wilken lived with his family in the Isle of Man but was soon back in SA where he replaced Pieter Prinsloo as Hyprop’s CEO in January 2019.
stock which historically paid dividends. SA REITs are required to pay at least 75% of their distributable income as a dividend each financial year. Controversies Anderson says that for PKI and MAS to suddenly go back on what they promised shareholders leaves uncertainty around the stock. “I haven’t invested in MAS at all in the past. But I would think that those institutions and individuals who bought MAS shares because of its exposure to East European property will be angry,” says Anderson. While MAS has been at the centre of bad governance this year, the company has been controversial since its inception. MAS was founded in 2008 by Mertech, Atterbury and Sanlam. The idea was that post the 2008 global real estate crash when property values were deflated, the MAS vehicle would enable wealthy individuals to gain investment exposure to high-quality
News Service (SENS) that it would change its dividend policy and potentially its strategy. Months ago, PKI had said it would sell certain properties and return the funds to investors as dividends if its takeover of MAS went ahead. But on Friday MAS explained that it might invest in sectors other than real estate and that it may also move into other countries. It would also no longer focus on resuming dividend payments but rather look to optimise long-term shareholder value on a per share basis. A failure of coporate governance While good governance tends to enhance shareholder
This includes the MAS Board failing to disclose full information about the development joint venture (DJV) between itself and PK as well as details around the development margins that PK received. Mall landlord Hyprop Investments had announced an intention to buy MAS before backing off saying the company had not disclosed details of the DJV. M&G Investments and eight other prominent minority shareholders who had held more than 15% of MAS, including Sesfikile Capital, Ninety-One, Meago, the Eskom Pension and
Lukas Nakos
Morné Wilken
Provident Fund, Catalyst Fund Managers, Stanlib Investment Managers, Mazi Capital and Momentum Investments Management, had proposed the Extraordinary General Meeting which ultimately achieved next to nothing for them.
returns through sound capital allocation and poor governance tends to detract from returns by attracting discounts, as M&G Investments’ Portfolio Manager Yusuf Mowlana
Yusuf Mowlana
While MAS is not a real estate investment trust (REIT) and as such does not have to pay regular dividends, numerous groups bought its shares because it was a property
explains, the takeover of MAS and conduct of its board and management as well as PKI is an example of a failure of corporate governance, he says.
Pieter Prinsloo
October 2025 | Issue 141 | Asset Magazine 273
272 Asset Magazine | Issue 141 | October 2025
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