AFIAA Foundation for International Real Estate Investment and M&G Real Estate have traded AUD300m (€204m) worth of Australian office buildings in two separate transactions.
AFIAA, an investment foundation for Swiss pension funds, is understood to be acquiring 628 Bourke Street in Melbourne’s Docklands from London-headquartered M&G Real Estate for AUD180m.
In a separate transaction, M&G, the real estate investment arm of UK insurer, is buying an office tower in Brisbane from AFIAA for AUD120m.
M&G declined to comment and AFIAA could not be reached.
Market sources said the deals were not a straight asset swap.
M&G acquired the Melbourne building at 628 Bourke Street three years ago from Investa Office Fund for AUD129.6m, and surprised the market when it put the asset up for sale in March this year.
AFIAA, which already owns three buildings in Melbourne, had been doing due diligence on 628 Bourke Street, and is thought to have now secured the deal with M&G Real Estate.
Its last purchase there, in late-2016 was 114 William Street in central Melbourne, which it acquired from the Singapore-based Straits Real Estate for AUD161.5m.
The Swiss investor appears to be reshuffling its Australian portfolio, having decided to sell its Brisbane office building, which is leased to CIMIC, the Australian subsidiary of the Spanish contracting group ACS.
When the Brisbane office tower first came to market in March this year, it was reported that it could attract between AUD130m and AUD140m. AFIAA paid AUD95m for the building in 2010.
For more information on Swiss investor AFIAA, look out for the forthcoming edition of IPE Real Estate.
