Blackstone exits Figtree Grove in $206m deal

Through their joint venture deal the Singapore-listed property trust, which is majority owned by Singapore Press Holdings, will take an 85 per cent stake in the mall while Moelis will hold the remainder.

Blackstone purchased the mall in 2015 as part of a $783 million collection of centres from Scentre Group, which owns and operates Westfield malls.

Blackstone has begun steadily carving off and selling down individual malls from a $3 billion retail portfolio of malls that the private equity giant created through a series of deals in recent years.

The sale of Figtree, brokered by Colliers International’s Lachlan MacGillivray, was struck on a yield of 6 per cent.

The transaction is the latest in a series of trades within the sub-regional malls category, where there has been intense interest in recent months as investors shuffle their exposure to the retail sector.

This week, Charter Hall Retail REIT bought Campbellfield Plaza, a sub-regional mall in metropolitan Melbourne, for $74 million from ISPT as it reworks its portfolio.

On the Princes Highway, Figtree Grove is anchored by a 24-hour Kmart, along with Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, two mini-majors and 72 specialty stores. It has 21,984 square metres of retail space and sits on a 50,900-square-metre land parcel.

“The acquisition of Figtree Grove Shopping Centre is a strategic fit with SPH REIT’s portfolio of quality assets and in-line with our strategy to expand our footprint into Australia,” said Susan Leng, chief executive officer of the property trust’s manager.

‘Good growth prospects’

Chris Monaghan, managing director and head of real estate asset management at Moelis Australia, said the partnership with SPH REIT fitted with Moelis’ strategy of working with offshore investment groups.

“SPH REIT’s investment requirements aligned well with our strategy of identifying and acquiring strong performing Australian shopping centres with sound trade area demographics and good growth prospects,” he said.

Blackstone has stepped up its divestment activity recently after its efforts to sell off the $3 billion portfolio of retail assets stalled last year amid negative news flow about the then imminent arrival of Amazon and the impact of online shopping on traditional retail.

This month, it sold Melbourne’s Waverley Gardens shopping centre for $178 million to a new fund set up by Elanor Investors Group with Heitman.

In August, it sold the Artarmon homemaker centre Home HQ in Sydney’s north shore for $140 million to BlackRock and Fortius.