AMP Capital has regained total control of two Australian shopping centres in transactions, costing about A$760m (€480m).

The manager lost control of the centres when one of its entities, the former AMP Capital Diversified Property Fund, merged with Dexus’s flagship fund in April this year.

AMP Capital said the AMP Capital Shopping Centre Fund (ASCF) had acquired an additional 25% stake in Macquarie Centre in Sydney’s north for A$422.5m. In a second transaction, AMP Capital, together with UniSuper and Cbus Property, purchased 20% of Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast, Queensland’s premier tourist destination, for A$336.4m through the AMP Capital Retail Trust (ACRT). The other 80% of Pacific Fair was already owned by ACRT.

Both stakes were acquired from the Dexus Wholesale Property Fund.

When the transactions settle early in the new year, ASCF and ACRT will each hold 50% of Macquarie Centre, while ACRT will wholly own Pacific Fair.

“The further investment into Pacific Fair with UniSuper and AMP Capital reinforces our conviction in the underlying performance of the centre, the potential for future growth and the alignment with our new partners,” Cbus Property’s chief executive officer, Adrian Pozzo, said.

UniSuper’s head of property and infrastructure, Kent Robbins said: “Securing 100% ownership of Pacific Fair alongside our partners will provide UniSuper members with increased exposure to the benefits of the reopening of economies as travel restrictions ease.”

AMP Capital introduced UniSuper and Cbus Property to ACRT in October when they bought a majority stake in Pacific Fair and 50% ownership of Macquarie Centre in Sydney for A$2.2bn.

AMP Capital global head of real estate, Kylie O’Connor, said: “With these latest acquisitions in Pacific Fair and Macquarie Centre, AMP Capital’s investors will hold stakes in 14 of the most highly-regarded shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand,” she said.

The latest acquisitions capped off a record year of more than A$3.6bn in retail transactions, she added.

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