A Charter Hall Group-led consortium which includes two Australian superannuation funds has bought the David Jones flagship store in Sydney from its South African owner, Woolworths Holdings, for A$510m (€315m).
Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (CLW) will hold a 50% stake in the assets, with the remaining 50% equally split between the Charter Hall DVP Partnership and Charter Hall Group.
IPE Real Assets understands that investors in the unlisted Charter Hall DVP Partnership are the corporate super fund, Telstra Super, and the state-owned defined benefit fund, Victorian Funds Management Corporation.
David Jones, a premium department store in Australia, will provide a 20-year, triple-net lease, with minimum 2.5% annual rent increases supplemented by an agreed turnover rent linked to sales performance.
Avi Anger, CLW fund manager, told IPE Real Assets that a key investment criterion for the trust was buying assets on lease-back arrangements and on long-dated, triple-net leases.
CLW’s portfolio consists of Bunnings hardware stores, Telstra telecommunications exchange buildings and BP service stations.
Charter Hall Group CEO and managing director, David Harrison, said: “This acquisition is consistent with our strategy in so many ways, namely securing long WALE NNN (triple net) leased assets.”
Harrison spoke of the “appetite of our managed funds and partnerships” to team with the Charter Hall group for “high conviction” prime real estate acquisitions.
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