Scentre Group agrees to sell three Westfield malls to NZ firms for $549 million

Friday 27th November 2015

ASX listed Scentre Group has agreed to sell three Westfield shopping centres for $549 million in two deals, having put them up for sale earlier this year.

Diversified NZ Property Fund, managed by NZX listed Stride Property, will buy the Queensgate and Chartwell centres and is expected to close in the first half of next year, while Ladstone Holdings has bought the Glenfield mall and is due to settle at the end of the month, Scentre said in a statement to the ASX. The sale of the three centres was at a yield of 8.2 percent.

Scentre put the three malls and WestCity site up for sale earlier this year as part of a group-wide strategy to own regional malls rather than sub-regional. Last year, it sold 49 percent of five other New Zealand centres to Singapore's Government Investment Corp.

In a statement to the NZX, Stride said Diversified NZ Property will pay $445 million for the two malls, which are subject to Overseas Investment Office approval. Stride manages the assets for the fund, receiving a base management fee of 0.6 percent up to $750 million under management, and 0.5 percent after that.

It owns about 2 percent of the convertible notes in Diversified NZ Property, and will contribute up to $6 million to seal the deal.

In a separate statement, Stride said it has entered into a deal to sell an industrial property in Auckland for $8 million, 11 percent above its book valuation at Sept. 30.

Stride shares gained 0.5 percent to $2.06, while Scentre's ASX listed stock gained 0.8 percent to A$4.05.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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