Shaftesbury Capital secures R13bn investment from Norwegian sovereign wealth fund

SHAFTESBURY Capital’s share price soared over 13% on the JSE Thursday morning after announcing plans for a £570 million (around R13.4bn) cash injection through a long-term part-nership with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.

- EDWARD WEST

The JSE, A2X, and London-listed UK property group will sell a 25% non-con-trolling interest in the Covent Garden estate to NBIM, with Shaftesbury retain-ing 75% ownership and management control over the estate.

The deal values the Covent Garden estate at £2.7 billion, in line with an independent property valuation as of December 31, 2024, with expected cash proceeds of about £570m.

On the JSE, Shaftesbury traded at R31.16 Thursday morning, a price mar-ginally below the R33.50 it was trading at a year before.

“This partnership brings together two long-term investors who have a shared confidence in and ambitions for the growth prospects of Covent Garden and the West End,” said Shaftesbury CEO Jan Hawksworth in a statement.