GROWTHPOINT PROPERTIES Growthpoint properties is a leading international property company that provides space to thrive. The company creates value for all their stakeholders through innovative and sustainable property solutions. The property company has assets on three continents and is the largest South African primary REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) listed on the JSE. It owns and manages a diversified portfolio of property assets, locally and internationally. constituent of the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and has been included in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index for nine years running. Growthpoint properties are committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and, as leaders in sustainability, they take governance very seriously by aligning themselves with global best practices. The company has developed a sustainable development strategy and has won many awards for their Green Star rated Buildings. Growthpoint design new and refurbished buildings to achieve a minimum GBCSA 4-Star Green Star SA rating. Their strategy integrates sustainability into its strategic business planning and leadership have made a commitment to People, Planet, and Profit. Growthpoint has grown its asset base from R1.5 billion to about R100 billion in 14 years, but there are now fewer local acquisitions and more competition. In 2015, Growthpoint entered into a fifty-fifty joint venture with Investec Asset Management to create Growthpoint Investec African Properties (GIAP) Limited. The partnership, according to Norbert Sasse, CEO of Growthpoint, made the new initiative a "compelling proposition" and the holding company intends to seek out acquisition or development opportunities in Africa. The African real-estate markets are "well positioned for a long-term growth" phase, given the significant supply deficit across the continent. Norbert Sasse, CEO, told the media that "Growthpoint has taken a while to get its strategy together for Africa and how to play the African theme." He added that "key to analysing the opportunity has been finding the right partners" which is why it took Growthpoint a few years to find the right associates. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) came on board as partner. Norbert Sasse noted that "finding the team" was a critical "ingredient" necessary for implementing their Africa investment strategy. The IFC director agreed and expressed his belief that together with Investec's pan-African investment experience, Growthpoint's industry-leading property investment expertise, and the IFC's deep African knowledge - the team had the ingredients to "create an excellent formula for success" in Africa. Analysts from Old Mutual and Stanlib have expressed their support for the venture. These analysts expressed that "it is a good move for Growthpoint to diversify" and gain additional "non-South African exposure." Commenting on the type of investment, analysts saw this move as a "long term story" noting that "African investments take time. They are targeting a listing in five to seven years." Despite African economies "going through short-term challenges" there was a shared belief that "the continent has pretty amazing long-term prospects" and that Investec Asset Management and Growthpoint Properties provide the right combination to successfully create a robust portfolio of property investments across Africa." In 2018, Growthpoint Properties announced that they have repositioned executive management as the company looks to diversify against growing risks in SA and in order to look at potential investments in Africa. The company announced that long-standing group CEO Norbert Sasse would assume a new role, in which he would focus on the company's offshore expansion (Australia, Poland and Romania). Managing Director Estienne de Klerk became the CEO for Growthpoint South Africa and he has been charged with managing the company's R80 billion domestic portfolio. Other people in senior management at Growthpoint have been assigned new executive roles, including industrial portfolio director Engelbert Binedell, who has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer for South Africa. The company is also looking for acquisitions for its new Africa fund GIAP. GIAP has secured capital commitments of more than US$212 million from large institutional investors and has itself committed US$50 million. The company has been considering potential acquisitions in Ghana despite challenges experienced in finding investors prepared to commit to investing in Africa after the demise of many of the economies following the oil and commodity crisis. Targeted investments will be further diversified by sector, with GIAP's mandate spanning office, retail and industrial properties. Growthpoint's investment in Africa is viewed as a being part of its "longer-term strategy" aimed at getting US$750 million of equity listed on a recognised exchange so as to target global investors. Managing Director of Growthpoint South Africa, Estienne De Klerk, said that domestically Growthpoint had to negotiate a slow growth and tough economic times. The domestic market has not grown which has been a challenge for Growthpoint, making it difficult to achieve growth in rentals and revenues. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth was downgraded to 1.2% for 2018 and it is believed that it is unlikely to reach 2% before 2020. In 2018, Growthpoint South Africa made the decision to diversify into Healthcare. The property company launched a Healthcare Property Holdings portfolio valued at R2.4 billion comprising of five private healthcare assets. The new property holding vehicle invests exclusively in healthcare assets in South Africa. Two of Growthpoint's healthcare properties are operated by private healthcare provider Busamed, and one each by JSE-listed healthcare players MediClinic and Netcare. In addition, Netcare also rents 50% of the space in N1 City Medical Chambers, the medical suites adjacent to the N1 City Hospital. The company also has a R750 million pipeline of hospital developments, which will benefit from Growthpoint's well-established property development expertise. Growthpoint also has several acquisition and development opportunities on the horizon, which are being evaluated. In the last financial years Growthpoint saw a 6.5% distribution growth to 208.6 cents per share and saw a 10.1% increase in distributable income to R6.1 billion. 1. Critically evaluate the strategy making approaches of Growthpoint's top management from an Intended, Emergent and Deliberate perspective. Support your evaluation with theory and examples from the case study. (15)