Mirvac may have been forced to the sidelines temporarily on its pursuit of Investa Property Group’s management arm, but the listed developer looks poised to capture another high-profile capital partner as Chinese insurer Ping An circles one of its up-market Sydney residential assets.
According to sources, Ping An is weighing a $100m injection into the Waterloo project.
The luxury apartment complex is due for completion in 2018 and the capital from the Chinese heavyweight would account for close to half Mirvac’s development outlay, strengthening its returns from the project and lessening the drain on its balance sheet.
While it’s unclear how far talks have progressed, a deal would open the possibility of more joint ventures between the two. It would also mark Ping An’s first foray into the residential sector and underscores the depth of appetite from the Chinese for Australia’s booming housing market.
Elsewhere, Brett Blundy’s property float, Aventus, has secured backing from several cornerstone investors ahead of today’s bookbuild.
The commitments account for close to two thirds of the targeted $300m raise, according to sources. Macquarie is the sole lead manager and bookrunner on the near $700m deal.
Finally UBS and private equity firm CVC last night seized upon a lull in the recent stockmarket volatility to exit hotel operator Mantra. The widely anticipated selldown of 81 million shares was executed by UBS and priced at $3.43, a 3.4 per cent discount to the last traded share price.
Heavy demand for the $277.8m line of stock resulted in large-scale backs to investors and enabled the Swiss bank and CVC to bank a handsome profit.
Mantra, which raked up $498.8m in revenue for the 2015 financial year, was floated last year at $1.80 a share.
This article first appeared in The Australian Business Review.