One of Australia’s largest, diversified unlisted funds, the DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF), has raised AUD250m (€178m) in new equity.
The capital comes from existing investors and one new investor, understood to be an Australian institution.
The fund, which manages assets valued at AUD7.5bn at the end of 2016, last went to market for fresh capital in 2015 when it received AUD400m in two separate raisings.
Mike Sheffield, DWPF fund manager, told IPE Real Estate that the additional capital would help DWPF move forward with six development projects it is involved with in Australia.
The capital will also enable the trust to stay within its preferred gearing range of 10% to 20% he said.
Reconfiguration of Westfield Plenty Valley, a sub-regional shopping centre in Victoria, and Willow Shopping Centre in Townsville, North Queensland, are among projects on the list.
Sheffield said work is also required on the latest DPWF acquisition, Carillon Centre in Perth, which the fund acquired for AUD140m in October last year.
DWPF will be drawing down capital for its joint development – with its listed parent Dexus Property Goup – on an office tower in North Sydney. The total cost of the 34-level office project is estimated at AUD468m
To cater to investor appetite for additional investment in the fund, Sheffield said Dexus maintains a register of interest.
In this instance, he said: “We were able to satisfy the demand of our [existing] investors, and to take in a new investor.
“We are an active manager and we seek to outperform our peers, which we have done over one, three, five, and seven–year periods.”
