The former boss of Macquarie’s real estate arm, Stephen Girdis, is believed to have plans for a property float on the ASX.
The company would consist of New Zealand office buildings and is estimated to be worth between $200 million and $400m, sources say.
It is understood that advisers, including the Commonwealth Bank, were being drafted in to work on the initial public offering, which was said to be mooted for November.
Mr Girdis headed Macquarie’s real estate arm from 2007, but left the bank almost two years ago.
His exit came after Macquarie wound down its property operations in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
He chaired various Macquarie real estate funds and was an executive director of Macquarie Bank. He did not return a call from The Australian yesterday. Sources said he was at present involved in various consulting roles.
Should the deal proceed, it would probably attract retail investors interested in higher-yielding stocks at a time when interest rates are low.
At this time there are no companies listed in Australia solely focused on owning New Zealand sites, with many of the Australian-listed real estate groups divesting the assets they owned across the Tasman following the GFC.
The proposed deal comes as GPT Group, the nation’s oldest listed property trust, works with investment bank UBS to float its suburban office properties as a separate company on the ASX.
Brokerage Morgans — formerly RBS Morgans — has also secured an advisory role on the deal to float what is expected to be a company worth at least $300m.
GPT said it had not yet made a decision as to whether it would demerge its office properties on the listed or unlisted market.
New property companies listing on the ASX have had mixed success in the past year. When 360 Capital listed its suburban office building fund in April, it closed down 3 per cent on its debut, but has since somewhat recovered.
GDI’s office fund public market debut was underwhelming in December, with shares falling about 11.5 per cent before improving.