The highly active Mirvac Group has emerged as the keenest contender for the bulk of the $350 million Altis Property Partners portfolio.
While the private equity real estate group is still deciding the composition of any sale, Mirvac’s ability to manage industrial property and also develop residential sites is believed to have put it in pole position.
Buyers from Hong Kong and Singapore — and many have strategies to get into the Australian market — are more keen on passive assets and may instead chase a $150m-plus portfolio of Super Retail Group-occupied assets.
The sale of the Altis Real Estate Equity Partners 1 portfolio — which spans 10 properties with the key industrial asset being a $150m complex in Sydney’s St Leonards — is being handled by Colliers International, with assistance from CBRE and Chesterton International on some assets.
Altis has proven a savvy asset trader as it bought early in the cycle and then worked to stabilise the properties.
The parties and Colliers International were tight-lipped yesterday but if Mirvac goes through with the purchase, which may not include some of the office assets in the portfolio, it will also have the capacity to develop a major apartment complex in St Leonards.
UBS analysts noted that Mirvac historically outperforms the REIT market when the cash rate is falling until the early stages of a tightening cycle due to its residential exposure.
They expect this trend to continue and tipped that now consensus earnings forecasts have been rebased for this financial year, growth in coming years will accelerate.
More apartments — including the latest stage of Sydney’s Harold Park project which nearly sold out on the weekend — are expected to settle and the earnings forecasts will rise if the group can quickly restock its development pipeline.