Aust Unity snares property group
Australian Unity has bought syndicator York Capital from the Abigroup.
According to industry sources, Australian Unity paid $1.5 million for the company.
This figure was denied by general manger financial services Craig Dunstan who declined to reveal the true figure - citing confidentiality.
Dunstan says the company had been looking for some time to buy a syndicator. York's $160 million of investments was a good start, he says.
York has five syndicates, which are a mixture of retail centres and outlets. It has operated in three states.
Australian Unity completed the due diligence on the buy last week and Dunstan will be talking to the York staff this week.
"I will go through the process of talking to everybody about staying on," he says.
"Our objective is not just to buy the company, we want to keep the expertise and skills that the staff have in running property syndicates."
Rationalisation of the property syndicate industry has been expected for some time as the smaller players are unable to gain economies of scale. The largest syndicator, MCS, now has about $750 million of assets and continues to expand.
Dunstan says Australian Unity will create some more syndicates and is looking for further acquisitions in the area.
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