Charter Hall sets up NZ fund
Charter Hall Group has announced it has extended its partnership with BP by creating a new fund that has acquired a 49% interest in a NZ$534 million portfolio leased to BP in New Zealand.
The portfolio, which consists of the majority of BP’s New Zealand convenience retail properties with 72% of the portfolio located in the top three cities, was acquired in sale and leaseback transaction and would have a 20-year weighted average lease expiry (WALE), the firm said.
The new Charter Hall managed fund, which would have a NZ$262 million value and represent a 6.25% initial yield, would be owned 50% by Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (CLW) and 50% by Charter Hall Retail REIT.
Following this, CLW would undertake a fully underwritten $60 million institutional placement to partially fund the acquisition and costs of the transaction and would also undertake a non-underwritten security purchase plan (PPP) to securityholders in Australia and New Zealand to raise up to $10 million, CLW’s responsible entity Charter Hall WALE Limited said in the announcement made to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Avi Anger, CLW fund manager, commented: “This portfolio represents an extension of our strong relationship with bp and is an excellent addition to CLW, further enhancing the portfolio WALE and increasing the proportion of triple net leased properties in our portfolio.
“This is an exciting opportunity for CLW to invest in the New Zealand market in a diversified portfolio of high-quality properties leased to a high-quality tenant with long WALE leases.”
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