The unitised trading of individual residential properties, as described previously (Bringing homeowners the bacon, December 24), looks likely to cause quite a stir among private investors, if not the property market itself. 

However, there is more to this story. The company that is launching the service, DomaCom, doesn’t intend to stop there. 

It has plans for rapid growth, leading to an ASX float of its own, and to get the investments rolling it’s planning to give 10 per cent of the equity raised in its planned IPO to the investors, who have put the first $300 million into its trading platform. 

So it will look for large volumes of capital. However, CEO Arthur Naoumidis believes his firm’s trading platform will help inject life into another underperforming sector of the Australian investment landscape – private equity. 

Business leaders returning to Australia from abroad often wonder at the cultures of innovation and enterprise found in the US, UK or Israel, where ‘angel investors’ back thousands upon thousands of start-ups that just wouldn’t get off the ground here. 

How can we get more private investors to spot good ideas, back them financially, and help create jobs and profits to push Australia higher on the global competitiveness scale?

Naoumidis thinks the same ‘book building’ process that underpins his firm’s unitising of residential houses could be used to build a book on just about any start-up or under-capitalised existing business. 

That should set alarm bells ringing for the banks, whose business lending portfolios rely on them being the intermediary between saver and borrower. 

How disruptive would it be, therefore, to put savvy savers/investors in touch with start-up businesses? 

Though he didn’t say so when I visited the DomaCom office in Melbourne, Naoumidis’ business is a fairly good example of an innovative start-up. 

By remortgaging or selling their homes, and by approaching individuals who know their industry, Naoumidis and his partners raised a few million to get to work on the long regulatory slog needed to get to ASIC approval, and the IT work to build the platform itself. 

However, Naoumidis and partners had the advantage of already being well known for having previously worked on building the Praemium investment platform, which financial planners and accountants use to invest money for clients. 

But had they not been so well known, they would need a way to find private investors who understand how the investment industry works, and who would not have a problem buying a small amount of exposure to the start-up firm.

What this example illustrates is that by encouraging start-up companies to unitise early on, without a full float, the DomaCom platform has the potential to link a lot more ‘angel investors’ to innovative business ideas – particularly as a single investor can more easily, and cheaply, diversify their holdings across numerous start-ups.

This is all exciting stuff, but the DomaCom system is yet to be tested in the real world. If it proves itself with residential property, the potential is there to expand into small business funding. 

And Naoumidis and his partners, though they have signed Perpetual as the responsible entity and custodian of the assets DomaCom will manage, are aware that other corporate players will be watching. 

A ‘fast follower’ could eat their lunch if they don’t move quickly. 

Whether it’s DomaCom or a predatory fast follower who gets this platform into the hands of individual investors, the underlying principles in this project have the potential to do nothing less than transform the country.

By a staff reporter, with AAP

Capital city home values rose at their fastest pace for four years in calendar 2013, according to the RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index.

The index showed home values in capital cities lifted 9.8 per cent over the 12 months to December, the largest calendar year increase since 2009, when values rose 13.7 per cent.

The increase was the fastest annual rate of growth since August 2010.

House values grew at 9.9 per cent, slightly faster than unit values, which posted nine per cent growth.

In the fourth quarter, capital city home values rose by 2.8 per cent, with 6.6 per cent growth in the second half.

RP Data said growth gathered momentum through the second half of the year.

Sydney's property market was the strongest, with house values rising by 14.5 per cent in the city in 2013, pushing the city's median dwelling price to $655,250.

Perth was the second best performer, with an annual growth rate of 9.9 per cent.

Home prices in both cities are currently at record highs, up 10.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively, over prior peaks.

Hobart had the weakest growth, with prices rising by just 2..2 per cent, taking the median dwelling price there to $330,000 - the most affordable of all the capital cities.

RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said low interest rates increased demand for housing.

"Despite the strongest annual value growth since 2009, the rate of growth was not that startling given the low interest rate environment and the previous successive years in which home values fell," Mr Kusher said.

Home values fell 3.8 per cent in 2011, and a further 0.4 per cent in 2012, Mr Kusher said.

He said the main challenges for 2014 would likely be the impact of forecast unemployment growth, affordability constraints, and whether regulatory changes will be implemented to cool the near-record high levels of investor activity.

Start to prepare for a new era in the Australian Chinese relationship. For the last couple of decades every time we thought of China we have tended to examine trends in demand for iron ore, coal and gas. The enormous demand by Chinese for these base commodities has underpinned government revenue and that of our miners.

Chinese demand is not going to go away but all the signs are that in coal, and perhaps gas, the rate of demand growth will at best be subdued. Iron ore might be stronger, although there are big increases in global capacity on the horizon.

But well within five years, instead of simply looking at Chinese manufacturing, Australia will look at the tourist bookings. We are going to see a very big rise in Chinese tourism. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projects the number of Chinese travellers to Australia and New Zealand will soar from 910,000 trips in 2012 to 2.2 million in 2020 – just six years away.

This rise will cause almost a doubling of the ratio of Chinese travellers to inbound tourists from 16 to 28 per cent. And it doesn’t stop there.

BCG expects the number of inbound trips from China to Australia to grow at an incredible nine per cent per annum between 2012 and 2030. BCG is more bullish than the Australian Tourism Research Group which is forecasting a compounding growth rate of 6.4 per cent.

Growth rates of between six and nine per cent annually are going to require growth in infrastructure and I don’t think we are properly prepared for it.

The new China relationship goes even deeper because they are now aggressively buying our real estate, particularly in capital city markets of Melbourne and Sydney. Perhaps they understand the implications of the tourism boom better than we do. There are two other forces driving the Chinese to send money abroad. First they are being encouraged by the Chinese government to spend abroad but even more importantly, the prosecution and jailing of Bo Xilai and his supporters has created feeling of insecurity among many people in China. If such an important person can be brought down by the current leadership who else is vulnerable?

The understandable reaction is to make sure you have the ability to reside in a country like Australia. The combination of all these forces means we have a lot of activity ahead of us (Chinese buyers tower over Australian real estate, December 6).

The split of Westfield's international and domestic operations will enter crucial territory in coming weeks as the Lowy family and senior Westfield executives look to sell the deal to "hostile" investors, The Australian Financial Review reports.

According to the newspaper, several large institutional investors are in disagreement with the Lowy's over the value of the proposed offer and are threatening to vote against it.

To proceed, 75 per cent of security holders are required to support the proposal.

The AFR reports the way in which the offer has been calculated is the key concern among investors, with speculation mounting as to whether the Lowy family will "sweeten" the deal.

House price growth in Sydney is expected to moderate in 2014 with the risk of a bubble forming downplayed by economists and the housing sector, according to The Australian Financial Review.

The chief economist of the Housing Industry Association, Harley Dale, admitted the double-digit price growth of 2013 would be unsustainable, but he expects more “reasonable” growth in 2014.

“We certainly don’t want to be in a situation in January next year where we are again talking about another year of 15 per cent price growth,” he told the AFR.

Mr Dale said it was crucial the 2013 recovery in new dwelling construction continued into 2014 to ensure price growth could be kept at a sustainable level.

By a staff reporter, with AAP

GPT Group Ltd has increased its substantial holding in Commonwealth Property Office Fund Ltd (CPA), despite CPA advising its shareholders to reject GPT's takeover bid just before Christmas.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, GPT disclosed its voting power in CPA has increased to 11.44 per cent to 7.97 per cent.

On Christmas Eve, Commonwealth Managed Investments Ltd's (CMIL's) independent directors, acting on behalf of CPA, unanimously recommended its shareholders reject GPT's offer in favour of a rival bid from Dexus Property Group Ltd and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

GPT Group made an off-market offer of 0.141 GPT shares for all CPA shares, and 75.3525 cents – reduced by the amount of any distribution paid on a CPA unit – on November 19.

The rival, sweetened bid from Dexus and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is valued at $1.27 per CPA unit, including a cash payment of 77.45 cents and 0.4516 Dexus stapled securities.

Dexus takeover offer for CPA now open

Earlier today, the Dexus-CPPIB consortium announced that it had started mailing its bidder's statement to CPA unitholders.

"Accordingly, the Dexus offer (Dexus-CPPIB offer) is now open for acceptance," Dexus said in a statement.

Under the Dexus-CPPIB offer, CPA unitholders will be entitled to retain the CPA distribution for the six months ended December 31, 2013, which is estimated to be 3.5 cents per CPA unit and payable in February 2014.

The consortium's offer has no minimum acceptance condition and is scheduled to close on February 7, 2014.

CMIL has said the Dexus offer is superior to the GPT offer.

In its target's statement in response to the GPT offer, CMIL valued the Dexus offer at $1.246 per CPA unit and the GPT offer at $1.203, based on the prices of Dexus and GPT securities on December 20, 2013.

CPA invests in prime quality office property in central business districts and major suburban markets across Australia.

CPA holds 25 assets worth about $3.9 billion in total.

CPA is externally managed by CMIL, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank.

AAP

Expats and foreign investors could push residential property prices even higher this year as the falling Australian dollar prompts offshore buyers to enter the market.

A combination of low interest rates, a weaker local currency and surging house prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth might set off another wave of buying in Australia's major cities over the coming months, CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian says.

"Australia's starting to look a lot more attractive from a foreign investment perspective with the falling currency and that will probably show up more in the property market than anywhere else," Mr Sebastian told AAP.

"It will be more prevalent, especially with an improving global risk appetite."

He said foreign demand for Australian property was unlikely to wane, but it would take some time for enough new supply to come online.

RP Data figures released last week show that Australian home prices jumped almost 10 per cent in 2013, with house values in Sydney rising almost 15 per cent, followed by Perth with an annual growth rate of 9.9 per cent.

Since April last year, the Australian dollar has fallen 14 per cent to around 89.5 US cents.

Mr Sebastian said that once rental yields were factored in, Sydney house prices were returning up to 20 per cent.

"I don't think the Reserve Bank would like to see a recurrence of that over 2014," he said.

While it was too early for the central bank to begin lifting rates, there were signs that longer-term rates would rise following a boost in house prices.

There was now a perception that interest rates had reached a low point, with longer-term rates lifting over the past six weeks.

"There's a clear indication that we're getting close to the lows and, if anything, rates will start to lift in 12 months time," he said.

Borrowers were beginning to factor in rate rises, with around 17 to 18 per cent of people choosing fixed housing loans.

Still, mortgage brokers such as Mortgage Choice have reported increased demand for fixed home loans in December, with 33 per cent of applicants securing a fixed product compared to 30 per cent in the previous month.

Both Dexus and GPT announced they had struck a memorandum of understanding last night after the sharemarket had closed.

The battle for CPA was hard fought with the winner to become one of the country's biggest office-tower landlords.

Under the revised offer, Dexus and CPPIB have put more cash on the table, and lowered the script component of their bid.

GPT gets four office buildings for $679 million: a half stake of 10 Shelley Street in Sydney, and 750 Collins Street, 655 Collins Street, and a half share of 2 Southbank Boulevard in Melbourne.

Also, GPT's wholesale shopping centre fund can buy 50 per cent of Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne for $505 million from CPPIB.

In October, Dexus teamed up with one of the world's largest pension funds to launch the $2.7 billion hostile takeover bid for CPA.

The following month, GPT pitched a surprise cash-and-scrip play for CPA aimed at boosting its earnings and super-charging its ambitions to build up a $10 billion funds management empire.

While GPT does not win the entire CPA under the latest proposal, it does carve out a chunk of office towers.

Last year, Dexus/CPPIB offered two CPA office buildings -- 750 Collins Street and the half share in 2 Southbank Boulevard -- to GPT's wholesale office fund if the partners won 100 per cent of the units in CPA.

Dexus yesterday said the new bid equated to $1.272 a CPA share including the distribution, compared with its earlier offer of $1.27.

The company said the asset sales had allowed it to increase the cash component to 84.96 cents plus 0.3801 Dexus securities. Its earlier offer was 77.45 cents and 0.4516 Dexus securities.

Dexus also said it had posted out its bidder's statement, opening the offer for acceptances, with the offer to close on February 7.

The acquisitions are subject to a number of conditions, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval and due diligence, and are structured under a put and call option that terminates the deal if not exercised by September.

The acquisitions also depend on Dexus reaching compulsory acquisition in its CPA bid.

However, GPT has left its $3 billion bid for CPA open until January 24.

Dexus and GPT declined to comment further last night.

CPA owns 26 office properties and is run by Commonwealth Bank subsidiary Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

The takeover bid followed confirmation by Commonwealth Bank that it wanted to cut ties with its $20 billion property business.

In December, the independent directors of CPA rejected a $3 billion takeover bid from GPT Group in favour of a higher bid from Dexus and CPPIB.

By a staff reporter

Demand for fixed rate home loans has surged to levels last seen five years ago as borrowers look to capitalise on a record low cash rate.

The latest figures from mortgage broker Mortgage Choice show demand for fixed rate home loans lifted to 33.1 per cent in December, up from 30.6 per cent in November. Such numbers haven’t been seen since March 2008.

While several economists still expect another rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia in coming months, talk of rates again being lifted by the end of 2014 appears to have many confident now is the time to lock in the current rates on offer.

Having put in place a rather attractive consolation prize, what will GPT Group’s Michael Cameron do next?

On Monday evening, GPT and its rival bidder for Commonwealth Office Property, the Dexus/Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grouping, announced they had entered binding memoranda of understandings over the potential sale of five assets by Dexus and CPPIB to the GPT Wholesale Office Fund should the Dexus-led bid for CPA succeed.

Should all the asset sales proceed, GWOF would outlay almost $1.2 billion to buy the properties.

The deal doesn’t preclude GPT continuing with its own bid for CPA, nor increasing it. GPT gate-crashed the original $2.8 billion Dexus/CPPIB bid for CPA in November with a $3 billion offer of its own, forcing the partnership to respond by slightly increasing its offer and altering the terms to inject more cash and reduce the scrip component.

GPT, with an 11.44 per cent interest in CPA, could have – and could still – counter that move with an increased offer of its own. With the Dexus/CPPIB valuation of CPA already regarded as very full and any increase in GPT’s bid probably requiring more cash, however, there would be a significant risk of GPT over-paying.

That risk would be compounded by the fact that GPT’s securities are trading at a material discount to their asset backing. It would make little sense to significantly dilute its own security holders in order to pay an over-the-top price including a takeover premium for CPA.

While much has been made of the need for Cameron to pull off a successful transaction after trying unsuccessfully to land a couple of deals last year, GPT’s brush with disaster last decade – its big, highly-leveraged and ill-fated joint venture with Babcock & Brown – is scorched into its corporate memory.

Cameron, brought in to clean up that mess and restore the group to its former blue-chip status, isn’t likely to be keen on relinquishing the group’s restored reputation for financial discipline. The most likely outcome is that he’ll take an attractive second prize and allow Dexus and CPPIB to acquire CPA.

It wouldn’t be a bad outcome for GPT. Under its existing bid it would outlay about $4 billion in cash and shares to fund the bid for CPA, including GWOF’s borrowings to acquire $1.1 billion of properties from it if the bid succeeded.

If it departs the CPA scene GWOF would still acquire a similar amount of assets, increasing GPT’s funds under management without impacting GPT’s own balance sheet or the $3 billion of firepower it was prepared to devote to CPA. With one of its major rivals for office properties on the sidelines until Dexus has digested CPA, it would still be able to pursue any opportunities that emerge within a sector that is being re-shaped.

Cameron’s strategy is based on total returns and includes an objective of lifting GPT’s funds under management from about $7.2 billion to $17 billion over the next few years. The GWOF transactions, if all were completed, would add significantly to the surge of organic growth already occurring as GPT seeks to lift the “active” component of its earnings to about 10 per cent and leverage its returns on equity.

It wouldn’t be the big prize, but it wouldn’t be a bad outcome.

For Dexus and CPPIB, the deal may not completely remove GPT from the scene but it makes its departure far more likely and, should they achieve the 90 per cent ownership level at which the deals with GWOF come alive, reduce their own funding requirements. Four of the assets are currently owned by CPA and one – 50 per cent of the Northland retail centre in Victoria – by CPPIB.

The apparent truce between the bidders would, if it plays out as expected, represent a very sensible and pragmatic compromise in circumstances – contested bid situations – where common sense doesn’t necessarily usually prevail.

The “winner-takes-all” approach that normally prevails generally creates two losers – a “successful” bidder that pays more than it should have and the ‘”loser” who misses out entirely.

GPT Group is likely to turn its attention to another target after this week striking a deal to carve off nearly $1.2 billion of property in the battle for Commonwealth Property Office Fund, according to market sources.

There was speculation yesterday the $1.97 billion Investa Office Fund would be a good fit for GPT with IOF shares closing up 8 cents to $3.21 in trading yesterday.

On Monday night, Dexus Property Group and partner Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and rival GPT announced GPT could buy four Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) office towers for $679 million if Dexus wins its $3 billion takeover bid for the office landlord. CPPIB may also sell its half-share in Northland shopping centre in Melbourne to GPT for $505 million. The properties would be owned by GPT's wholesale office and shopping centre funds.

Under the revised offer, Dexus and CPPIB have put more cash on the table, and lowered the script component of their bid.

Winston Sammut, managing director of fund manager Maxim Asset Management, said the deal saved face for both sides with GPT getting some assets and Dexus/CPPIB the grand prize.

He noted that the bid price for CPA was becoming expensive, being in line with CPA's share price of $1.23 and above its net tangible assets of $1.19.

"GPT has the capacity to spend more and brokers today have raised Investa as a potential target, though not immediately," Mr Sammut said.

He did note that investment bankers might be "talking their own book". Investa Office Fund had been trading at a 5 to 10 per cent discount to its $3.25 NTA over the past month, he said.

Phoenix Portfolios managing director Stuart Cartledge said both Dexus and GPT shares had traded up yesterday following the announcement, while CPA shares were flat, reflecting that the market was no longer prepared to pay a premium for CPA on the expectation of a higher bid.

"Two days ago I would have expected a higher bid, but Dexus has put GPT in a difficult place," Mr Cartledge said.

If GPT were to increase its bid, it risked paying too much, while it would also lose Northland as the acquisition was subject to Dexus winning CPA, he said.

CLSA analyst John Kim said a higher bid from GPT should not be ruled out. GPT had still been accumulating shares in CPA and announced on Monday it had increased its stake to 11.4 per cent, nor had it formally withdrawn its offer, he said.

GPT said on Monday that its bid for CPA remained open until January 24, while Dexus's offer closes on February 7.

Mr Kim said GPT's announcement on Monday was more likely driven by its fiduciary duty as manager of its two wholesale funds, which will buy the office towers and shopping centre.

GPT last year withdrew from a number a takeover tilts, with the group bidding on Australand's office and industrial division for $2.94 billion.

It was also reported to have made an offer for Lend Lease's unlisted industrial fund. The bid for CPA is GPT's third attempt to grow its assets.

In October, GPT chief executive Michael Cameron said he wanted to increase the group's funds under management by $10 billion, but did not set a timeframe, saying the key target was a minimum 9 per cent annual growth in total return.

In October, Dexus teamed up with CPPIB, one of the world's largest pension funds, to launch an initial $2.7 billion hostile takeover bid for CPA.

The following month, GPT pitched its surprise cash-and-scrip play.

Rich lister Harry Triguboff is looking to grow his serviced apartment chain through the purchase of its first site in Melbourne, according to The Australian.

Mr Triguboff said his company, Meriton Group, was planning to acquire sites with enough space for 500 to 1000 apartments.

"I have serviced apartments in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, this (a Melbourne property) would make a network," he told The Australian.

The property developer is hoping business and leisure travellers will appreciate the option to stick to one brand of serviced apartments along the east coast.

Institutional investors in Westfield Retail Trust calculate that they are overpaying by $1 billion to $1.5 billion under a current restructure proposal and want the Lowy family to adjust the ratio on the split of their shopping centre empire.

One fund manager with a significant holding in WRT says the current ratio of 0.918 Westfield Group shares per WRT unit would see investors pay about $3.5 billion for the empire’s property management business on an unusually high EBIT multiple.

 “The deal is a negative for WRT shareholders. They need to adjust the merger ratio to move the deal into at least neutral territory,” one institutional shareholder said. The Lowy’s move to split Westfield’s international and domestic operations transfers 5 to 10 cents a share from WRT to Westfield Group, he said.

Westfield Group, which contains the international portfolio of centres, will be renamed Westfield Corporation. It will have total assets of $US17.6 billion in the US, UK and Europe and a $US9 billion development pipeline.

The separation will see Westfield Group’s Australasian business demerged and then packaged with Westfield Retail Trust, with Westfield Retail securityholders receiving $850 million in through a capital return and an aggregate 51.4 per cent of the new entity, to be called Scentre Group. The $850 million capital return is equivalent to a pro rata buyback of Westfield Retail Trust securities at $3.47 per security.

The $3.5 billion price tag on Westfield’s property management business implies a multiple of about 19.5 times EBIT – a far cry from splits seen as comparable, like the 10 times earnings multiple for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's planned spin-off of the CFS Retail Property Trust.

“On the current merger ratio it appears they (WRT investors) are paying $1 billion to $1.5 billion too much, an EBIT multiple of even 12 times would value the property management business at $2.1 to $2.2 billion,” an institutional WRT shareholder said.

Westfield Group securityholders will get securities in the new Westfield Corp on a 1:1 basis as well as 1.246 Scentre securities for every Westfield Group security held.

Institutional WRT security holders are calling for the ratio to be put at or near parity for the deal, saying the Lowy family will be fighting a rear-guard action as they attempt to muster up the 75 per cent shareholder approval needed ahead of a vote in May. 

Westfield Retail Trust will be the largest Australian REIT listed on the ASX, accounting for roughly 15 per cent of the sector. It will have $28.5 billion in assets. Frank Lowy will remain chairman of both operations.

Last year the Lowys sold their own stake in Westfield Retail for about $660 million.

By a staff reporter, with AAP

The demand for home loans rose slightly more than expected in November, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data showed the number of home loans granted in November rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 per cent to 52,912.

Bloomberg had expected the number of housing finance commitments to lift by one per cent in the month.

Total housing finance by value rose 1.7 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, to $26.934 billion.

The rise in home loan approvals means there won't be another interest rate cut, an economist says.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief economist Michael Blythe says it means the Reserve Bank of Australia won't cut the cash rate again during this cycle.

"We think they're done because those interest rate sensitive parts like housing, as we've seen today, are moving," he said.

"You don't need any more help from that perspective and the sectors that do still need help would benefit more from a lower currency."

Mr Blythe said interest rates were likely to rise, from a record low of 2.5 per cent, in late 2014 as a weakening Australian dollar added to inflationary pressures.

National Australia Bank senior economist Spiros Papadopoulos said that although the housing market was strengthening, it would not be enough to rebalance the economy as the mining investment boom winds down.

Unemployment would continue to rise, meaning the Reserve Bank of Australia would be unlikely to raise the cash rate this year, he said.

"This is another indicator that points to the strength in the housing market, alongside rising house prices the upward trend in building approvals that we've seen in recent times," Mr Papadopoulos said.

"We think there's still going to be a hole left in the investment outlook and although the housing and construction part of the equation will be supporting growth, the other non-mining sectors will still be quite soft and not strong enough to offset the mining slowdown.

"We don't think it's going to be enough overall, which is why we think the unemployment rate is going to head higher and why the RBA won't be in a position to raise rates this year."

By a staff reporter

GPT Group Ltd has ruled out increasing its off-market takeover offer for Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA), in a development that will likely see it bow out of the ongoing takeover battle.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, GPT chief executive officer and  managing director Michael Cameron said the decision not to increase the consideration under the offer followed careful assessment of the competing proposal for CPA, and reflected a continued focus on GPT’s strategic priorities.

GPT said the offer remains open for acceptances until January 24, but it will not be extended beyond that date.

Late last year, Commonwealth Managed Investments Ltd's (CMIL's) independent directors, acting on behalf of CPA, unanimously recommended its shareholders reject GPT's offer in favour of a rival bid from Dexus Property Group Ltd and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

GPT Group made an off-market offer of 0.141 GPT shares for all CPA shares, and 75.3525 cents – reduced by the amount of any distribution paid on a CPA unit – on November 19.

The rival, sweetened bid from Dexus and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is valued at $1.27 per CPA unit, including a cash payment of 77.45 cents and 0.4516 Dexus stapled securities.

GPT said in the event that GPT's bid does not progress, previously received acceptances will be void.

Mr Cameron said the most important thing GPT can do is effectively allocate capital in order to generate the strongest possible total return over time for GPT securityholders.

"Achieving this objective requires GPT to make the correct decisions about sector allocations, when to buy and sell assets within the portfolio, and importantly not overpaying for assets," he said.

"It also means issuing or buying back equity when value can be created for securityholders, and not relying on increasing debt in a low interest rate environment to enhance short term earnings at the expense of long term total return.”

By a staff reporter

Real estate classified service REA Group Ltd has acquired a rental application service for $15 million.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, the group that owns realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au said it has acquired 1Form Online Pty Ltd, operator of online tenancy application service 1Form.com.

The target was established in Melbourne in 2006 and has 2.3 million registered tenants.

The 1Form.com service has been available on realestate.com.au free of charge since 2011 and REA said it intends to eliminate the annual application management and storage fee for all consumers.

REA Group CEO Greg Ellis said the acquisition is in line with the group's strategy to connect consumers with property-related services.

"1Form.com has successfully employed digital expertise to improve the property experience," Mr Ellis said.

"1Form.com supports our stated strategy to connect people with the practical services they need."

After the acquisition REA Group will continue to provide the 1Form.com service to real estate agency websites in Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Ellis last month announced his resignation from REA Group, saying he would remain in the role until a successor was appointed.