Australian property group Charter Hall has agreed to buy an office tower in Melbourne for around A$800m (€496.4m) from Oxford Properties and an unlisted Investa fund.
IPE Real Assets understands that Charter Hall is due to announce the acquisition of Telstra Tower as early as Wednesday.
The A$5.3bn wholesale Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF) is expected to be a part owner of the asset.
It is thought that the unlisted trust will launch a new round of capital raising from institutional investors to part-fund its share of the acquisition.
Telstra Tower is currently owned by Oxford Properties and Investa Commercial Property Fund (ICPF).
The Canadian investor inherited the asset when it took over Investa Office Fund (IOF) last year. Since taking over IOF, Oxford Properties had moved to dispose of up to A$2bn of what it terms non-core assets.
A source told IPE Real Assets: “ICPF is selling its interest in 242 Exhibition Street to Charter Hall.”
The 43-level Telstra Tower, in the northeastern sector of Melbourne central business district, is an A-grade building comprising almost 66,000sqm of office space.
The former IOF last year listed the value of its stake in the building at A$326.5m.
The building, which was purpose-built for Telstra in 1991, is leased to the telecoms firm until 2031.
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