PROPERTY
Resilient: A rock-solid mall strategy
Without fanfare, SA’s Resilient group has quietly become the biggest listed mall owner in Central and Eastern Europe
Over the past 18 months, a number of SA developers and JSE-listed retail-focused property funds have entered the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Most have been lured by cheap debt funding and the promise of cashing in on highly aspirational and fashion-conscious consumers hungry to spend their new-found wealth in Western European-style shopping centres. But the CEE region hasn’t suddenly appeared out of nowhere on SA radars. The JSE’s Resilient group of companies, founded by former Nedcor banker Des de Beer and developers Jeff Zidel and Barry Stuhler, were the early trailblazers when they entered the uncharted territory of Romania 10 years ago through New Europe Property Investments (Nepi). At the time, the push into Romania, instead of following the rest of the crowd into tried-and-tested offshore markets like the UK, Germany and Australia, understandably raised a few eyebrows. But De Beer, Zidel, Stuhler and fellow South African and former Nepi CE M...
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