Trusts cut $4.5bn in value from for-sale list
JPMorgan said from the research this week that the largest portfolio to be pulled from the market was Investa’s $1.2bn of office buildings, due to the upcoming initial public offering.
GE Real Estate had withdrawn assets totalling $800 million from sale, it said.
However, $10.8bn of Australian assets are still for sale. Writing in its October 2009 Direct Property Overview, the JPMorgan property research team said that after a review, it had reduced its list of assets for sale from $15.3bn in September to $10.8bn.
The team, headed by Rob Stanton, wrote that many vendors had recapitalised and had withdrawn their properties, believing that property values would improve.
Mr Stanton told The Australian the withdrawals showed there was less stress among the vendors, particularly listed trusts.
But on JPMorgan’s “for sale” list is the $1bn retail and office portfolio owned by Brookfield Multiplex, followed by Aurora Place, owned by Colonial First State, for $650m. Also on the list of available assets are Robina Holdings $500m residential, mixed used and commercial land, holdings on the Gold Coast; the Grand Hotel portfolio, owned by the Singapore-based Tuan Sing Holdings; and the $400m Brisbane Square office complex, owned by superannuation fund Westscheme.
The report said that asset sales slowed momentarily in September with only $44m of transactions compared to $1.1bn in both July and August. During October, 15 transactions totalling $1.24bn — of more than $20m each — took place.
The report said that listed property trusts accounted for the major deals, including GPT’s sale of the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Sydney and five assets from the ING Industrial Fund.
It noted that about $230m worth of deals were approaching completion. These included a 50 per cent stake in 800 Collins Street in Melbourne’s Docklands for $87.5m and the Sheraton Mirage for $70m.
JPMorgan said a noteworthy addition to its list in October was the sale and leaseback of Energy Australia headquarters at George Street, Sydney for about $100m.
