The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has sold its stake in a prime Brisbane office tower, One One One Eagle Street, for AUD284m (€201m).
ADIA sold the interst to its co-investor, GPT Wholesale Office Fund (GWOF), one of Australia’s largest office owners.
GWOF has now lifted its ownership to 66.67%. GPT, developer of the tower and manager of the wholesale fund, has the remaining 33.33%.
ADIA was GPT’s joint venture partner when the project, located in Brisbane’s sought-after Golden Triangle, launched in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
Costing AUD670m to develop, it was completed in 2012. Some of the largest blue-chip companies and top legal firms now occupy the building’s 63,800sqm of commercial space.
GWOF fund manager, Martin Ritchie, said the fund exercised a call option to acquire ADIA’s stake.
“This transaction represents a very rare opportunity for GWOF to increase its investment in this highly sought-after, premium-grade office asset,” he said.
The acquisition brings GOF’s gross assets to AUD6.5bn.
A source told IPE Real Estate that ADIA’s rationale to sell was similar to those of other long-term foreign institutional investors in Australia, such as Singapore’s GIC, which have sold down assets in the country.
“It is hard to say where ADIA will deploy the proceeds of the sale,” the source said.
“It could be in one of its other Australian investments or it could repatriate the funds for investment overseas.”
ADIA has a number of investments in Australian real assets, but One One One Eagle Street was the sovereign wealth fund’s only investment with GPT.
A year ago, ADIA partnered Australian infrastructure specialist Hastings in a consortium to buy TransGrid, a high-voltage electricity network, from the NSW Government for AUD10.3bn. Through its Tawreed Investments unit, ADIA has a 20% stake in TransGrid.
In 2013, ADIA paid a record-breaking AUD800m Tourism Asset Holdings, Australia’s largest hotel owner.
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