SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prudential Real Estate Investors has agreed to acquire a 50 percent interest in 40 Mount Street, North Sydney, an A-Grade office building known as “Coca Cola Place” from Investa Property Group (“Investa”), the companies announced today. PREI, operating in Australia through its Asian business, Pramerica Real Estate Investors (Asia) Pte Ltd., is the real estate investment and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc., (NYSE: PRU).
PREI, which is acquiring the ownership stake from Investa, is acting on behalf of institutional investors in its Asia Real Estate Fund. Investa, which sold its other half interest in the building to Investa Commercial Property Fund (“ICPF”) in October 2010, will be retained as property manager.
“The asset ticked a number of boxes for us in terms of physical attributes, tenant profile and quality of cashflow, and offered a good fit within the broader portfolio,” said Steve Bulloch, managing director for PREI is Australia. “We also see A Grade vacancies remaining low in this market, which should drive rental growth. We are also pleased to partner again with Investa, demonstrating our preference to leverage strategic relationships through multiple transactions.”
The deal is PREI’s second transaction this year with Investa, following the acquisition of a majority interest in 595 Collins Street in Melbourne, Australia.
Michael Cook, group executive and head of Capital Transactions and Commercial Developments at Investa added: “40 Mount Street is one of only a few iconic, investment-grade office assets in North Sydney, and represents a prime opportunity for those seeking exposure to the strengthening Sydney office market.”
At the same time PREI and Investa finalized their deal, a large portion of the remaining space was leased to Tenix, a major infrastructure maintenance and engineering services company, taking occupancy of the office space in the building to 100 percent.
Commenting on the sale to PREI and the recent lease to Tenix Peter Menegazzo, fund manager of ICPF commented: “Clearly high quality, next generation office buildings like 40 Mount Street are highly sought after. The building's features and strong tenancy profile has attracted a high quality investment partner in PREI, and we look forward to a strong, long term investment partnership.”
"We are also thrilled to welcome a tenant of the calibre of Tenix to the building who will join other blue chip tenants that include Coca Cola and Vodafone," said Menegazzo.
Investa completed 40 Mount Street in 2010. The property offers panoramic harbor and city views and was the first completed high-rise building in New South Wales to achieve the 6 Star Green Star Office Design and As Build Rating. In 2010 the building won the Urban Taskforce award for ‘Development of the Year,’ and in May this year was awarded ‘NSW Development of the Year,’ and Australia’s ‘Best New Sustainable Development of the Year’ by the Property Council of Australia at the Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation and Excellence awards.
Investa is one of Australia’s largest owners and managers of quality real estate controlling assets worth AU$9.5 billion across the commercial, industrial and residential sectors. Investa’s integrated property platform incorporates property services, funds management, portfolio management, asset management, development and sustainability. With a long history of managing institutional grade office buildings in core CBD markets, Investa’s office portfolio comprises more than 60 buildings and is valued at over AU$8.2 billion. Investa’s development pipeline exceeds AU$2.7 billion and includes more than 12,500 residential lots, and over 450 hectares of industrial land. Funds under management in its listed and unlisted funds total more than $4.4 billion, managed on behalf of over 27,000 investors. Investa is a global leader in sustainability and is committed to responsible property investment and the ongoing pursuit of sustainable building management, ownership and development.
PREI, a leader in the global real estate investment management business, offers a broad range of investment vehicles that invest in private and public market opportunities in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., PREI has other offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo; as well as representatives in Milan and Zurich. As of March 31, 2011, PREI managed approximately $46.4 billion in gross real estate assets ($28.4 billion net) on behalf of more than 490 clients worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.prei.com.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $883 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2011, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.