Blackstone has made its first foray into New Zealand’s office sector with the acquisition of a portfolio of office parks from Goodman Group and GIC for NZD635m (€370.7m).
The assets, known as VXV office portfolio, are held in Wynyard Precinct Holdings, an entity 51% owned by Goodman Property Trust and 49% by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Goodman said Blackstone made the acquisition on behalf of “certain” Blackstone funds.
Last month, Blackstone’s president Jon Gray flagged a greater focus on Asia-Pacific for the growth of the New York-based group in coming years, as the private equity firm moved to close two Asian funds.
The acquired portfolio, in Auckland, includes a cluster of seven office parks with a total space of 80,000sqm. It is 99% leased to companies.
John Dakin, the chief executive officer of Goodman NZ, said the tenants hold 10-year leases.
The sale of the office portfolio is part of Goodman’s plan to reposition its worldwide assets to orient them towards high-quality industrial warehouses in key inner-city locations in major global cities.
The most recent in a series of Goodman’s sales to Blackstone was a warehouse portfolio in Europe early this year.
