Charter Hall Group has closed two separate transactions in Australia worth a total of A$1.25bn (€772m) with fuel giant BP and US private equity group KKR.
In the BP deal, Charter Hall and two of its funds are investing A$840m to buy a 49% stake in 225 convenience stores and fuel outlets.
Charter Hall’s service station deal comes on top of its purchase of the Arnott’s biscuit manufacturing facility in Sydney’s West from KKR for A$398.9m. KKR acquired Arnott’s in July.
In both instances, the deals have been transacted on a sale-and-leaseback basis.
Charter Hall’s managing director and group CEO, David Harrison, said the deals established significant tenant customer relationships with both BP and Arnott’s.
“Our success in partnering with global multi-national and Australian-based corporates in sale-and-leaseback activities continues to benefit our tenant customers while providing opportunities for our diverse range of investors and security-holders,” he said.
Charter Hall has created a partnership to be owned 50% by its listed Charter Hall Long WALE Reit (CLW), 30% by the Charter Hall Retail REIT (CQR) and 20% by Charter Hall Group to hold the BP assets.
CLW will have an equal share of the Arnott’s manufacturing plant with the Charter Hall Industrial Reit.
It is undertaking an underwritten A$350m equity raising to fund its share in the two transactions in what is the listed vehicle’s fourth capital-raising this year.
Charter Hall Industrial & Logistics CEO, Richard Stacker, said the Arnotts transaction was one of the largest individual industrial asset sales recorded in Australia.
He said Arnott’s was the market leader in Australian biscuits, with a portfolio of iconic products that could be found in 95% of Australian households, commanding about a 61% share of the Australian biscuit market.
The Charter Hall industrial fund will find the transaction from capital raised (A$725m) last October to fund acquisitions and an A$2bn development pipeline.
CQR is planning to sell some shopping centres to fund its share of the BP transaction.
The spate of acquisitions this year has increased Charter Hall’s assets under management by 25% from A$30.4bn to more than A$38bn.
