JPMorgan's decision to hire former Citi managing director Simon Ranson as its new vice- chairman is said to have lifted the investment bank’s prospects of securing the defence advisory mandate for real estate trust Mirvac.
Data Room revealed last month that Mirvac was in the process of appointing a defence adviser, with the field narrowed to two US banks, JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
An appointment by Mirvac is said to be imminent and industry sources are pointing to JPMorgan as the winning candidate. The bank is a major lender to the business, offering debt worth close to $200m.
Companies such as Mirvac are becoming increasingly nervous about being targeted by suitors out of Asia, which are interested in gaining exposure to a lucrative residential development pipeline in a low interest rate environment.
Especially appealing to Chinese real estate investment groups would be Mirvac’s attractive apartment developments, particularly its inner-Sydney projects Green Square and Harold Park, which are both reporting strong presales.
Up for discussion among some directors of prominent property companies is how to bolster their defences and how to value their businesses when appetite for low-risk earning streams by global suitors is increasing.
The recent $11bn scrip merger between shopping centre landlords Novion and Federation Centres has thrown open the possibility of further corporate activity in the sector, despite stocks looking expensive.
Meanwhile, Mr Ranson will begin at JPMorgan in the coming weeks, as exclusively revealed online by The Australian yesterday, but it’s understood his role is not full-time.
He will report to JPMorgan’s head of Australian investment banking Grant Dempsey and work alongside its head of real estate Rob Stanton and other sector heads.
Previously, he was both head of Australian mergers and acquisitions and real estate at Citi.
This article first appeared in The Australian Business Review.