Hyprop, which develops shopping centers in South Africa, wants to expand into Eastern Europe and enter the Romanian market by acquiring shares in developer MAS. The company announced in a statement submitted to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that it wants to raise capital to acquire a majority stake in MAS P.L.C., which has developed several malls and retail parks in Romania together with Prime Kapital.
“In-line with Hyprop’s strategy of owning and managing dominant retail centres in mixed-use precincts in key economic nodes within South Africa and Eastern Europe, and specifically the key priority to secure new growth opportunities in Eastern Europe, Hyprop has evaluated acquiring a controlling shareholding in MAS P.L.C (“MAS”) pursuant to a conditional voluntary bid process (the “Voluntary Bid”), as outlined below. Any Voluntary Bid would offer all MAS shareholders the opportunity to sell their MAS shares in exchange for Hyprop shares (the “Share Exchange”) or for cash (the “Cash Alternative”),” reads the company’s announcement.
PKI, which holds 21.8% of MAS shares, launched a voluntary offer on May 14 to take over all the shares it does not hold in MAS. PKI is offering to acquire the shares at 0.85 euros/share, within a fixed budget established for this option, or non-voting preference shares, which can be redeemed after five years.
Hyprop, on the other hand, is offering a price based on the market price of MAS shares on May 23, 2025, which it says is more attractive than the 0.85 euros/share alternative announced by MAS in mid-May. MAS shareholders can opt for Hyprop shares and will benefit from superior liquidity, as the company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and A2X, an alternative trading market.