GPT acquires Ascot industrial for $850m

The GPT Group is paying Ascot Capital a speculated $850m for a portfolio of 28 investments.

Containing a total lettable area of over 200,000 square metres, the properties – 24 warehouses and four offices – earn annual income of about $36m.

The sale price reflects a circa-four per cent yield for the industrial assets.

Incorporating the offices – which are all government backed – the return is understood to be about c4.4pc.

The blended Weighted Average Lease Expiry is about 9.2 years.

The portfolio

Just over 70pc of the portfolio’s area is leased to listed companies – amongst them Asahi Breweries, Genuine Parts Company (GPC), Probiotec and Tritium.

Bega, Cope Sensitive Freight and Tasman Logistics Services also occupy facilities.

The offices – which contribute to more than a quarter of the revenue – are rented to the federal and NSW governments and Brisbane City Council.

Underbidders are speculated to include Allianz, Charter Hall, in partnership with ISPT, Capitaland, Centuria, ESR, Lendlease, Manulife, Mirvac and Nuveen

In March, GPT and QuadReal established a trust to acquire distribution centres, with an initial investment of $800m.

That entity, the GPT QuadReal Logistics Trust, is not believed to be behind the Ascot Capital purchase.

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Another major industrial portfolio

Last week, Lendlease confirmed it was paying Mirvac $161m for three east industrial assets – two, in Melbourne, abutting existing portfolio assets.

In February, LOGOS agreed to pay Qube $1.67bn for the multi-building Moorebank Logistics Park.

That buyer later called in co-investment partners – Australian Super, AXA IM, Ivanhoe Cambridge and TCorp.

Four months ago, ESR, backed by GIC, spent $3.4bn on a portfolio of industrial investments – then an additional $400m on an associated management business.

The vendor of those properties, Blackstone, also recently sold a 90pc stake in 20 assets – forming the so-called Fife portfolio – to PGIM and Manulife.

Source: Real Estate News

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