ANZO sells Chews Lane sites for $50m

NZPA

Monday 18th July 2011

Listed office-space investor, AMP NZ Office (ANZO) says it has sold its remaining retail and office investments in Wellington’s Chews Lane for $50 million.

This follows last year’s sale of five retail units in the property for a total of $11.7 million.

The balance of ANZO’s investment, comprising 7200 sq m of office space and a number of retail units, had now been sold to a combination of private and institutional investors for $50m, representing a 3.3 percent premium to its 2010 financial year valuation, the company said today.

The sale reflected a passing rent yield of 8.2 percent and a yield on market rent of 7.5 percent.

In 2007, before property markets slumped, ANZO said that it has bought a Wellington office and retail complex at 29 Willis St -- part of the wider Chews Lane precinct -- below its valuation of $77.75m.

ANZO chief executive Scott Pritchard said today the price achieved in the latest deal indicated "further stability" in the investment market. He expects to reinvest the proceeds into value enhancing opportunities in the future.

Settlement of the sale of all of the office units and all but one of the retail units at Chews Lane was due on July 28 and 29 July 2011.

The sale of one retail unit -- equivalent to 2 percent of the deal -- remained conditional.

In May ANZO said that it had secured a new $400 million bank debt facility, to replace an existing $342.5m loan, most of which was due to expire later this year.

The new lending provided sufficient funding for all ANZO's committed capital projects, including the estimated $76m redevelopment of the ANZ Centre, ANZO said.

The weighted average term to expiry of ANZO's funding was extended from 0.8 to 3.6 years with laddered maturities improving the rollover profile, ANZO said.

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