Landlord shows Trillian the door at Melrose Arch, cites reputation fears

Cape Town – Property development and investment group Amdec confirmed on Monday that it had cancelled a lease with Trillian for office space at Melrose Arch of Rosebank, Johannesburg, sighting the potential for “reputation damage”.

Trillian is still reeling from scandals related to the governance of Eskom in recent years under former CEO Brian Molefe, former CFO Anoj Singh and, more broadly, former minister of public enterprises Lynne Brown.

Trillian is in the process of contesting an Eskom bid to recover R600m it was paid by the power utility under its past leadership. The state-owned power provider also paid R1bn to McKinsey, who have indicated a willingness to repay the money.

Amdec managing director Mike Vermaak told Fin24 that Trillian’s lease with them at Melrose Arch was, indeed cancelled, with a year left.

He said the cancellation was considered final and that Amdec had nothing else to say on the matter other than what has been reported and announced.

“I think what we said was made by the CEO. That is the only statement we have to release. We don’t want to carry on with the subject. It has been reported and announced extensively and we do not have any further comments to make in this regard,” Vermaak said.

On Monday morning Business Day reported that Amdec would cancel Trillian's lease for office space at Melrose Arch with a year left on the agreement.