GLOBAL – The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) are putting AUD872m (€700m) in new equity into the AMP Capital Retail Trust (ACRT), which is in turn investing in Australian shopping centres.

ACRT, which has interests in Sydney's Macquarie Centre and the Gold Coast's Pacific Fair, will start investing AUD390m and AUD580m, respectively, redeveloping the two malls, said AMP Capital, which manages the trust.

Graeme Eadie, senior vice-president for real estate at CPPIB, said: "The addition of these two assets expands our retail portfolio in Australia and represents a rare opportunity to acquire interests in two high-quality and well-located retail shopping centres."

The investment was aligned with the Canadian pension fund's long-term strategy, he said.

AMP Capital also said its managed funds had acquired Westfield Group (WDC) and Westfield Retail Trust's (WRT) interest in these two shopping centres, as well as Garden City Booragoon in Perth, for a total of AUD1bn.

At the same time, WDC and WRT have bought AMP Capital managed funds' interests in four shopping centres – Garden City Mt Gravatt in Brisbane, a part interest in Warringah Mall in Sydney and Knox and Casey Central in Melbourne – for AUD710m.

The managed funds were an AUD31m net buyer of assets and – after simplifying their partnerships with WDC and WRT – had cut the number of co-owned shopping centres to four from 10, AMP Capital said.

Over the last 10 years, Macquarie Centre has produced an average total investment return of 12.1% a year, AMP Capital said.

Pacific Fair has returned an annual average of 11.2% over the same period, while Garden City Booragoon has returned 14.6%.

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