The listed Abacus Property Group has expanded its tie-up with US private equity giant KKR by winning its backing for the $103.5 million purchase of Oasis Shopping Centre at Broadbeach on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
The pair yesterday bought the three-level shopping mall from Canadian giant Brookfield, which picked up the centre and adjoining Sofitel Hotel when it took over Thakral Holdings in 2012.
The Oasis shopping centre sold on an initial yield of 7.9 per cent after an off-market sales process. Selling agents Dan and Sam McVay of McVay Real Estate declined to comment yesterday.
KKR will fund 60 per cent of the equity, while Abacus will fund the remaining 40 per cent.
Abacus will provide local property, asset and development management services for the centre.
The purchase marks Abacus and KKR’s second joint venture in Australia, following their investment in the World Trade Centre in Melbourne last year.
Abacus Property Group chief executive Frank Wolf said the deal “illustrates the continued progress of our third-party capital strategy and our successes in accessing standout core-plus assets with value-add characteristics”.
KKR director, real estate, Bryan Southergill, said Australia was “an attractive destination” with great investment potential.
“We look forward to broadening our real estate portfolio in the market and to collaborating with Abacus on the management of a second Australian property,” Mr Southergill said.
The transaction will see Abacus and KKR acquire the 21,557sq m mall with 1250 carparks at $4800 per square metre.
The centre is more than 90 per cent-occupied and has a weighted average lease expiry of more than 3½ years.
Woolworths, the Broadbeach Tavern and My Fitness Club are among Oasis’s largest tenants.
Brookfield acquired several hotels as part of the $410m takeover of Thakral and has also been disposing of these, with the Sofitel at Broadbeach selling for about $83m to a Chinese buyer last year.
The Oscars Hotels group also picked up the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach for about $48m and it is buying the Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach Hotel near Sydney airport for more than $100m.
Abacus has also been selling hotels out of its specialist unlisted fund. Last month the property group sold the Chateau on the Park hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand for $NZ35m.
This article first appeared in The Australian Business Review