Landmark secures $20m funding to fuel property expansion drive

Towards increasing its real estate portfolio of over 130,000 square metres of mixed-use office, residential and leisure facilities across the continent, one of Nigeria’s leading property developers, Landmark Africa has been offered $20 million of funding by Vantage Capital, one of Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager.

The Landmark investment is Vantage Capital’s second transaction in Fund III, which is targeting a final closing of $260 million, and has a 60per cent allocation to countries outside South Africa. A Namibian and a South African transaction are expected to close during the first half of 2016 for a further aggregate investment of over $22million.

The real estate company is headquartered in Lagos, with offices in several countries including South Africa and the United Kingdom. Over its 19-year history, Landmark has built a high-quality property portfolio, including A-Grade offices for over 100 corporate clients including the Nigerian headquarters for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Procter & Gamble and provided development management services for one of the largest malls in Nigeria. Investment One Financial Services acted as Lead Corporate Advisor on the transaction.

Landmark is currently building Landmark Village, which will be an iconic “Live, Work, Play” mixed-use development with breath-taking sea views in the exclusive area of Victoria Island. They have already completed a cutting-edge, spacious 2,500 person events centre, an unparalleled Japanese Shiro restaurant and a vibey Hard Rock Café just a stone’s throw from the beach.

Landmark will soon enhance the development with a state of the art training centre and two extraordinary multi-tiered office buildings with over 20,000 m2 of dynamic office space. The premises will also encompass a four-star luxury hotel, fully serviced extended stay apartments and upscale residences for sale, each offering a unique residential experience. Landmark Village will benefit from a vast parking tower providing an abundance of parking space for all residents and guests. The first of its kind Landmark Village precinct will provide preeminent comfort for a demanding office, retail, leisure and residential clientele in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

CEO of Landmark, Paul Onwuanibe added, “We are excited to have Vantage partner with us on our journey to achieving the $5 billion valuation mark over the next decade. Our 19 year global and African real estate experience has keenly sharpened our insight in forging strategic alignments; especially in Africa. We are convinced the advent of Vantage will portend a marked acceleration towards achieving our goals and rewriting the African story.”

According to Ademola Aofolaju, Managing Director of Investment One Capital Management “Our involvement in this transaction is in line with our strategic drive to structure and arrange long-term, flexible capital for Nigerian businesses focused on providing solutions to the country’s real estate and infrastructure deficits.”